The Great Muslim Scientist Imam Jaffer Sadiq (as)

The Great Muslim Scientist 1 2 The Great Muslim Scientist

Table of Contents

Introduction.................................................5Preface .....................................................20Birth of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) ...........23Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) and hisAcademy....................................................26Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) in his father’sacademy ...................................................28Muhammad al-Baqir and Walid bin AbdulMalik ..........................................................34The System of Medicine of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) ................................................40The Theory of Four Elements.....................43Did Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) start theRenaisseance Movement?.........................53Rotation of the Earth on its Axis ................56Theory of the Origin of the Universe...........59Theory of Opacity and Transparency ofMaterials ....................................................61Living Beings in Other Worlds ....................63Composition of the Human Body................65Discovery of Hydrogen...............................68Theory of Light ...........................................71Time and Space.........................................76Transfer of Disease by Rays ...................... 78Matter and Anti-matter................................82Light of the Stars........................................86Multitudinous Worlds..................................89Expanding and Contracting Universe .........93Pollution of Environment ............................96

Human Beings Shorten their LivesThemselves.................................................................. 99Good Advice for Mothers ......................... 102The Theory of Perpetual Motion ............... 107Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and Abu Shakir....... 108Death a Boon to Mankind ........................ 126Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and Jabir Ibn Hayyan................................................................ 129Stars of the Sky ....................................... 134Old Age.................................................... 136Theory of Germs...................................... 138Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and Mufazzal ibn Omar................................................................ 129The Qur’an and Modern ScienceBy Dr. Maurice Bucaille............................ 143


IntroductionThis book is a translation1 of Maghze Mutafakkir

Jehan Shia, the famous Persian book, which has beenpublished four times in Tehran, Iran. The Persian bookis itself a translation from a French thesis published byThe Research Committee of Strasbourg, France, aboutthe contribution of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) toscience, philosophy, literature etc.

Members of the Research committee have donea wonderful job and deserve thanks and gratitude fromall those who love the Imam (a.s.). However, I cannothelp commenting that when the learned scholars, whowere engaged in research, failed to find worldlysources of Imam’s knowledge, they indulged in wildspeculations and guesswork and were even guilty ofmisrepresenting historical facts to prove that ImamMuhammad al-Baqir and Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) hadacquired their knowledge through the followingsources:1. The Great Library of Alexandria.2. Coptic Scholars of Egypt.3. Books of Greek Philosophers.4. Persian Physicians.

LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA

1 This is the revised version of Kaukab Ali Mirza’s translation.

The library, which was established by Ptolemy I,was burnt down about 600 years before Muslimsentered Egypt. There was no trace of scientific booksof Coptic scholars in that country at the time of theImam. Philip K. Hitti has described the burning of thatlibrary in The History of The Arabs:

“The story that by the order of the Caliph, Amr,for six months fed numerous bath furnaces of the citywith volumes of Alexandrian Library is one of thosetales that makes good fiction but bad history. The greatPtolemic library was burnt as early as 48 BC by JuliusCaesar. A later one referred to as the DaughterLibrary, was destroyed about AD 389 as a result of anedict by Emperor Theodosius. At the time of the Arabconquest, therefore, no library of any importanceexisted in Alexandria. 2

COPTIC SCHOLARS OF EGYPTMacedonian General, Ptolemy I, had become

Pharaoh, with a court that spoke Greek. Heestablished a museum and a library in Alexandria.During the reign of the first two Ptolemies, the twoinstitutions proved to be of great help in spreadingknowledge, but even before they were burnt anddestroyed by the Romans, they had ceased to serveany useful purpose. When the Arabs conquered Egypt,the country was under total darkness. There was nolamp and no light that could have illuminated theMuslim world. H.G. Wells has described the state ofaffairs in Alexandria, after the first two Ptolemies, in thefollowing words:

2 History of the Arabs by Philip K. Hitti, 4th. Edition, Macmillan & Co.Limited, London p. 166.


“For a generation or so during the reigns ofPtolemy I, and Ptolemy II, there was such a blaze ofknowledge and discovery at Alexandria as the worldwas not to see again until the sixteenth century A.D.but it did not continue. The Museum produced littlegood work after the first century of activity.” 3

“So it was this blaze of intellectual enterprisenever reached beyond a small circle of people in touchwith the philosophers collected by the first twoPtolemies.

It was like the light in a dark lantern, which is shutoff from the world at large. Within, the blaze may beblindingly bright, but nevertheless, it is unseen.Presently a darkness of bigotry fell upon Alexandria.Thereafter, for a thousand years of darkness, the seedthat Aristotle had sown lay hidden. Then it stirred andbegan to germinate.” 4

The name of the Christian, Jewish, Sabean, andZoroastrian scholars, who made contributions to theintellectual awakening and progress of the Arabs afterthe conquest of Syria, Iran and Iraq, are recorded inhistory. Many of them had become converts to Islam.

However, we do not find the name of a singleCoptic scholar in the list of these luminaries. Learnedmembers of the Committee, who researched the life ofImam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), did not and could notmention a single Coptic scholar who might have cometo Medina to educate the Muslims.

3 A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells, Watts & Co, London,England, p. 97.4 A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells, p.98

If there were any Coptic scholars in Egypt theywould have gone to Baghdad, which was nearer toAlexandria and was the seat of the government, wherethey could have gained favor of the caliph, won fame,and made a fortune. They would not have made a longand arduous trek to Medina to give lessons to theImams (a.s.) in astronomy, geography, physics andchemistry with no hope of recovering their expenses.Moreover, by doing so they would have definitelyincurred the wrath of the people in power who werehostile to the Imams (a.s.).

There was also the language problem. It wouldhave been very difficult for Coptic scholars to translateinto Arabic what they had learnt in Greek, when therewere no equivalent scientific and technical terms inArabic. Even up to the time of Ma’mun, who was givinggold equal to the weight of Greek books, which weretranslated into Arabic, there were few scholars in theMuslim world, who could do the job, take that richreward, earn fame and get a lucrative post in theTranslation Bureau of the Caliph.

Since there were no scholars who were proficientin Greek as well as in Arabic languages, most of theGreek works were first translated into Syriac, an oldlanguage of Syria, by the scholars, who knew Greek aswell as Syriac. Then they were translated from Syriacinto Arabic by young Syriac knowing scholars who hadalso studied Arabic. The difficult passages in theoriginal were translated word for word. Where noArabic equivalent was known, the Greek terms weresimply transliterated with some adaptations.

BOOKS OF GREEK PHILOSOPHERS


Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had attacked thetheories of Ptolemy and Aristotle, when he was astudent in the Academy of his father, ImamMuhammad al-Baqir (a.s.), who died in A.H. 114, whenthe Umayyads were in power. No scientific,mathematical, or philosophical books were received ortranslated in that period. The work of collection andtranslation of books began when al-Mansur assumedthe caliphate in A.H. 136. In the year 154 of the Hijra,six years after the death of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)an Indian traveler introduced a treatise on astronomy inBaghdad, which was translated into Arabic byMuhammad Ibne Ibrahim on the order of al-Mansur.The same traveler introduced another treatise onMathematics by means of which the numerals, whichare called Arabic numerals, entered the Muslims world.It was the temptation of a handsome reward, whichhad lured the people to bring books to Baghdad. 5

Al-Mansur dispatched emissaries as far asConstantinople to Emperor Leo, in quest of Greekworks, and is reported to have received from theByzantine emperor a number of books includingEuclid.6

Al-Hajjaj Ibne Yusuf Ibne Matar (169-216 A.H) iscredited with making the first translation of theElements of Euclid and one of the first of Almagest ofPtolemy. But these translations had not been doneproperly and had to be revised or retranslated duringthe caliphates of ar-Rashid and al-Mamun.

5 History of the Arabs by Hitti, p.307.6 Ibid. 310.

One of the pioneer Greek translator was Abu-Yayha ibn al-Batriq (179-189 A.H.). He is reported tohave translated major works of Galen and Hippocratesfor al-Mansur. He is also said to have translatedPtolemy’s Quadripartitum. 7

Translation work was done sporadically for al-Mansur and ar-Rashid. In A.H. 213 al-Mamunestablished his Bayt-al-Hikma, which was acombination of Library, Academy and TranslationBureau. He appointed Hunayn ibn-Ishaq as theSuperintendent of the Bayt-al-Hikma. As the chieftranslator of scientific works he was assisted by hisson, Ishaq, his nephew Hubaysh ibn al-Hasan andmany other students.

Since most of the translators were Aramaic(Syriac) speaking, many of the Greek works, weretranslated first into Aramaic (Syriac) before theirrendition into Arabic. In many cases Hunayn did theinitial translation from Greek into Syriac and hiscolleagues took the second step and translated themfrom Syriac into Arabic. Aristotle’s Hermeneutica, forinstance, was first done from Greek into Syriac by thefather and then from Syriac into Arabic by the son,Ishaq, who had studied Arabic. He is credited withtranslating the works of Galen, Hippocrates andDioscorides as well as Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’sCategories, Physics and Magna Moralia. 8

Another famous group of translators was Thabitibn Qurrah (219-284 A.H) and his disciples, who weremostly Sabeans from Harran.

7 Ibid. p. 3118 History of the Arabs by Hitti, p. 312


They were star-worshippers and as such wereinterested in astronomy and mathematics. Mostprobably they studied those subjects from Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) or his students. Thabit and his disciplesare credited with translating Greek mathematical andastronomical works including those of Archimedes. Healso revised the previous translation of Euclid.

PERSIAN PHYSICIANSIn those days there were no colleges in many

places like Jundi Shahpur, where students could goand learn the science of medicine. If someone wantedto work as a physician, he had to serve for decades asan apprentice under an experienced physician. Medicalknowledge could not be acquired simply by readingbooks, since they were not available.

Iran made little contribution to the world ofscience, medicine and philosophy. Only one book ofastronomy is reported to have been translated fromPahlavi into Arabic in A.H. 198 by al-Fadl ibnNawbakht, the chief librarian of ar-Rashid. Ibn al-Muqaffa translated the famous book of fables, Kalilahand Dimna, from Pahlavi into Arabic.

“Except in the arts of belle-letters Persia did nothave much that was original to contribute. Theaesthetic temperament of Iranian population was asorely needed element in the cultural life of SemiticArabians. Next to the artistic, the literary, rather thanscientific or philosophical was the influence mostclearly felt from Persia. 9

9 History of the Arabs by Hitti, p. 308.

Jundi Shahpur in Iran was noted for its Academyof Medicine, which was established by Anusharwan in555 A.D. According to some historians, the Greeksystem of medicine was being taught in that institute,but the language of instruction was Aramaic (Syriac).In A.D. 765 Caliph al-Mansur appointed Jurjis ibn-Bakhtishu, the dean of the hospital, as his courtphysician. Abbasid caliphs, who were patrons of theAcademy, could not find a single book on philosophy,medicine or any scientific subject which wasconsidered suitable for translation into Arabic.

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) did not serve as anapprentice under any Persian physician; and he couldnot have obtained and studied the books on medicine,written in Pahlavi script during the pre-Islamic period. Itis, therefore, preposterous to presume that he hadlearned the science of medicine from the Iranians.

The above facts conclusively prove thecontention of the Shias that their Imams hadsupernatural knowledge (Ilm-e-Ladunni). Said Ali IbnAbi Talib (a.s.):

“You should know that the knowledge, whichcame from heaven for Adam and every kind ofknowledge which adorned all the prophets of Godincluding Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bestow HisBlessings upon him and his progeny) is with hisdescendants.” 10

Aristotle, the teacher of Alexander, was well-known to the Arabs. They called him Muellim (theteacher). They must also have become familiar with

10 Tasdir-e-Wur’an, by Abul Hasan Ali Ibrahim Qommi.


the names of Ptolemy, Socrates, Plato and otherphilosophers of Greece and Alexandria, but they didnot know what they had written and what they hadsaid.

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and Ja’far as-Sadiq(a.s.) knew that the Muslim world would be floodedwith books of the philosophers of Greece andAlexandria and that the Muslims would blindly accepteverything they had written as Gospel truth. Thus,many of their false and fallacious theories would catchtheir imagination, corrupt their minds, and keep themunder total darkness for centuries, which is actuallywhat happened. For example, the theory of Ptolemythat the earth is the center of universe and the sun, theplanets and the stars rotate around it was generallyaccepted by the Muslims as correct.

The two Imams explained to their students, whowere to spread their teachings among the Muslims, thetheories of those philosophers, pointed out theirmistakes and presented their own correct theories.Similarly they taught them physics, chemistry,geography, etc, prior to the translation of thesesubjects from Indian, Greek and Persian into Arabic.Because they were the Imam’s (representatives ofAllah on earth) they had the knowledge of the theoriesof Greek philosophers and others. There can be noother explanation.

INTELLECTUAL AWAKENING OF THEMUSLIMS

The momentous intellectual awakening ofMuslims witnessed in the second century of the Hijrawas not due to Hellenic or other foreign influences, as

some Western historians have recorded. It was theresult of untiring and ceaseless efforts by the membersof the Prophet’s family, who worked hard under hostileconditions and made great sacrifices to bring aboutthat golden age of knowledge.

It is an irony of fate that bloodthirsty Bani Abbas,who were never interested in knowledge, took thecredit for the intellectual awakening of Muslims. Thestandard of morality, knowledge and intelligence of as-Saffah, al-Mansur and other members of that tribe canbe judged by the heinous and horrid acts of savagerythey perpetrated. They murdered in cold bloodthousands of innocent Muslims, men, women andchildren. They feasted merrily amid moaning andgroaning of their guests, whom they had invited andthen cut into pieces. They exhumed the dead bodies ofUmayyad caliphs from the graves, flogged them andburned them.

Among all the Abbasid caliphs, only al-Mamunwas interested in knowledge. The rest of them wereinterested in accumulation of wealth, a luxurious life,worldly pleasures and satisfaction of their carnaldesires.

Historians and storytellers have placed a halo ofglory and grandeur around the head of Harun. He wasnothing but a tyrant and a despot. He slaughtered thewhole tribe of Barmakids simply because his vizier,Ja’far had children from his sister, Abbasa. They werelegally married by the caliph himself. His palace with itsannex for his harems, slave girls, eunuchs andfunctionaries occupied one third of the city of Baghdad.He was more interested in frivolous pastimes, belly


dancers and drinking wine than in science andliterature.

“Like a magnet the princely munificence ofHarun, the beau ideal of Islamic kingship, and of hisimmediate successors attracted to the capital, poets,wits, musicians, singers, dancers, trainers of fightingdogs and cocks and others, who could amuse, interestand entertain.”11

The bayat (oath of allegiance) to as-Saffah, thefirst Abbasid caliph, was taken in A.H. 132. He spentmost of his time killing people and consolidating hisposition. He died in A.H. 136 and was succeeded byhis brother, al-Mansur.

When things settled down, al-Mansur found, tohis great consternation, that if Bani Abbas had built anempire on the dead bodies of the Muslims, Imam Ja’faras-Sadiq (a.s.) had built a greater and more lastingempire in the hearts and minds of the Muslims. If thename of al-Mansur was recited from every pulpit inFriday Sermons, the name of the Imam (a.s.) was alsomentioned everywhere in the Muslim world. Theteachers and preachers of every sect of Islam used tosay, “Qala al-Alim”, meaning ‘the Knowledgeable(Imam) said’, to prove the authenticity of the traditionsthey quoted.

Muslims had great love and respect for the Imam(a.s.), because he descended from their Prophet (s.a.)and because he was the most pious and learned manin the Muslim world.

11 History of the Arabs, by Hitti p. 303.

This made al-Mansur jealous. He was alsosuspicious of the sincere efforts of the Imam (a.s.) tospread knowledge among Muslims.

AL-MANSUR CLOSES MEDINA ACADEMYIt is reported on the authority of Mufazzal bin

Umar that al-Mansur wanted to kill Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.). He called him many times with this intent,but when he saw him, he was filled with fear and couldnot carry out his vicious plan. Instead, he placed theImam (a.s.) under house arrest. For a long time, thefollowers of Imam (a.s.) were not allowed to see himand he was not permitted to see them. This put theShias under great hardship. They could not consulttheir Imam (a.s.), even on such matters as marriage,divorce, and etc. 12

After the death of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), noImam was allowed to live permanently in Medina andspread knowledge among Muslims. They were exiledto Basra, Baghdad, Samarrah or Marv, where theywere either held in prison or placed under housearrest.

It was easy for al-Mansur to close the Academyof Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) by putting him underhouse arrest or by killing him, but it was very difficult toeradicate his influence from among the Muslims. Theyloved him for his ancestry, his piety and his knowledge.Moreover, he had taught and trained 4,000 to 12,000students, who were spreading knowledge among themasses. Some of them were great scholars of Qur’an,Tafsir, Islamic jurisprudence, history and literature and

12 Managib Shahr Ashub, vol. vi, p. 238.


some were great physicists, chemists, astronomersand mathematicians.

Since al-Mansur could not find in the Muslimworld anyone who could rival the Imam in physics,chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and othersciences, he spent large sums of money and importedbooks from different countries on scientific subjects.They were translated into Arabic, and taught in schoolsand colleges. Gradually the names of Socrates, Plato,Aristotle, and Ptolemy became household words andtheir scientific and philosophical theories captured theimagination and dominated the thoughts of Muslims forcenturies. The scheme proved so successful that in thecourse of time, Muslims totally forgot about thescientific achievements of the Imam (a.s.) andimportant discoveries made by him.

Kaukab Ali Mirza

PREFACELearned scholars from Europe have been

studying Islamic Literature from the beginning of the17th century. It was only after the expansion of theiruniversities that American scholars started doingresearch on Islamic subjects.

American and European scholars have writtenmany books, after years of research, on Islam andgreat Muslim scholars. A number of them have beentranslated into Persian. I have translated some of themmyself, which have been published in Iran.

Upto the Second World War, American andEuropean scholars were not interested in studying theliterature of Twelver Shias. It was only after World WarII that they showed some interest in the Shia faith andits heroes.

The Research Committee at Strasbourg, whichstudied the life of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) andpublished this thesis, is engaged in the study andinvestigation of all religions of the world, includingIslam.

Members of the Research Committee, except thelecturers at the University of Strasbourg, are notpermanent residents of that city. Most of them live inother countries and send their research papers to theoffice of the Committee periodically. As reported byone of the professors, who teaches Persian language


in that university, the members meet every two yearsto exchange views.

Names of some prominent scholars, who aremembers of The Research Committee of Strasbourg,France, are as follows. Most of them are professorsand lecturers of different universities in Europe and theUnited States:1. Mr. Arman Bull, University of Brussels.2. Mr. John Oben, University of Brussels.3. Mr. Robert Brunswick, University of Paris.4. Mr. Claude Cohen, University of Paris.5. Mr. Henri Corbone, University of Strasbourg.6. Mr. Tofiq Fahal, University of Strasbourg.7. Mr. Fanciso Gabreili, University of Rome.8. Mr. Richard Graham Lynch, University of Germany.9. Miss Ann Lipton, University of London.10. Mr. Evan Lenan, University of Chicago.11. Mr. Henri Matisse, University of Paris.12. Mr. Husain Nasr, University of Tehran.13. Mr. Charles Pila, University of Paris.14. Mr. Musa Sadr, Great Scholar, Sur, Lebanon.15. Mr. George Wazda, University of Lyons, France.16. Mr. Arna Ludz, University of Lyons, France.17. Mr. Elyas, University of Los Angeles.18. Mrs. Duran Hynch Cliff, University of London.19. Mr. Joseph Manuz, University of Freebourg

Germany.20. Mr. Hans Muller, University of Freebourg Germany.21. Mr. Hans Romer, University of Germany.22. Zabih Ullah Mansuri, Tehran-Iran.

BIRTH OF IMAM JA’FAR AS-SADIQ (a.s.)Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was born in Medina,

on 17th of Rabi ul-awwal, 82 A.H. His father wasMuhammad bin Ali al-Baqir (a.s.). When he grew up hebecame famous as Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).

There are a number of stories about thechildhood of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.). It is said that hewas born circumcised and with a full set of teeth. Thereis another story that says he began to speak as soonas he was born.

It is also reported on the authority of Abu Horera,a famous companion of the Prophet, that the Prophetof God had said about Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that one ofhis descendants would become famous as as-Sadiq(truthful).

Four facts show us that from his childhood, Ja’faras-Sadiq (a.s.) was favoured by nature:1. He was born very weak, but did not suffer from any

childhood disease, which were common in thosedays. After two years he became quite robust andstrong.

2. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was born in a well-to-dofamily. His father and grandfather were men ofsubstance in Medina.

3. His father, Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.), was alearned man and his mother, Umme Farva, adescendant of Abu Bakr, was also an educatedlady.


4. His father and mother started teaching him whenhe was only two years of age.

As a rule, children whose fathers andgrandfathers are learned persons, have better chancesof becoming learned than those who come fromordinary families. The father and grandfather of Ja’faras-Sadiq (a.s.) were great scholars. His grandfather,Ali ibn Husain, had written a number of books whosenames have been mentioned by Ibn Nadim in his book,Al-Fehrist, although there is no trace of them today.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had many brothers andsisters. His parents educated them all, but they paidspecial attention to him from the time he was 2 yearsold, because of his supernatural intelligence andwonderful memory.

The old family house of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),which was on one side of the mosque of the Prophet(s.a.w.s.) and where his great grandfather, Husain ibnAli, was born, was demolished at the time of theexpansion of the mosque. From the money that wasreceived from the public treasury in compensation, aplot of land was purchased by the side of newlyconstructed road, called Musqa and a house was builtthere. That house, just like all the new houses ofMedina, was constructed by Iranian architects.

The courtyard of that house, which was probablyplanned by his great grandfather, Ali ibn Abi Talib(a.s.), was spacious and provided a good playgroundfor children. After finishing his lessons Ja’far as-Sadiq(a.s.) used to play with his friends there.

There are different reports as to when he startedattending classes, which were run by his father. Some

say that it was at the age of 3 years, and others say atthe age of 5. One of the Muslim historians of NorthAfrica, Muhammad Abu Bakr, well known as Ibn AbiRindega, who was born in 451 of the Hijra and died in520 Hijra has written in his book, Ikhtisar, that Ja’faras-Sadiq (a.s.) started attending classes when he wasten years old. This report seems to be quite logical.Before that time he did not attend any classes.Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) taught him at home.


IMAM MUHAMMAD AL-BAQIR (a.s.) ANDHIS ACADEMY

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) used to teach in themosque of Medina built by Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w.s.) and his companions when they emigratedfrom Mecca to Medina. It was expanded during the ruleof his successors. He taught history, grammar, rijal(science of hadith narrators) and literature, whichconsisted of poetry only. In those days no attentionwas given to prose. It may be noted that there were nobooks of prose available in Arabic except those writtenby Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) and Ali ibn Husain (a.s.).

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) gave lectures withoutconsulting books. His students also had no books, buthad very strong memories and could memorize theirlessons easily. Whatever they could not memorize theywrote down on a wooden board and copied the noteson paper carefully at home. They could not afford touse a lot of paper as it was a rare commodity thosedays. The advantage of writing on a wooden boardwas that it could be cleaned and used again.

Teaching without books may seem strangetoday, but in the past, teachers in the East and Westalways taught without books. Even today’s teacherswho trust their memory teach their students withoutconsulting books.

The subjects taught by Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.)were not very vast. Only literature was acomprehensive subject. History consisted of what wasin the Bible and the Qur’an. Greek and Syrian books ofhistory were not translated into Arabic and the historyof Europe could not be taught. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),who had a very strong memory could memorizewhatever was taught in the classroom.

Shias believe that Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) wascalled al-Baqir - meaning ‘one who splits and opens’,because he introduced many new chapters ofknowledge. In our opinion he was known as al-Baqirbecause at the end of the first century Hijra when Ja’faras-Sadiq (a.s.) was about seventeen or twenty years ofage, he introduced geography and many other westernsciences in his institute.


JA’FAR AS-SADIQ (a.s.) IN HISFATHER’S ACADEMY

When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) joined the college,his father had just started teaching Geography ofPtolemy. The day he attended his class, he heard, forthe first time, the name of Almagest, the book ongeography and astronomy written by Ptolemy, wholived in the second century A.D. He also heard for thefirst time from his father that the earth was round.

Some people believe that it is because ofCopernicus of Poland (1473-1543 A.D), that we knowthat the earth is a sphere. As a matter of fact all thelearned people of ancient Egypt knew that the earth isa sphere.

There is a book in the library of the Vatican,which was written one thousand years beforeCopernicus was born. In this book it is clearlymentioned that the earth is a sphere.

Before Copernicus had expounded his theorythat the earth and planets rotate around the sun,13

Christopher Columbus had started his westwardjourney towards the island of spices knowing that theearth is round.

Before the theory of Copernicus was publishedMagellan of Portugal, who was in the service of theKing of Spain, had sailed from Seville, a port of Spain,

13 The History of Science, by Spangenburg & Moser Vol. 1, pg. 37

and went round the world. He himself was killed by thepeople of the Philippines but his companions returnedto Spain after three years. This was the first time that itwas definitely established that the earth is a sphere.

Ptolemy wrote in Almagest that the earth is thecentre of the universe and that the sun and planets goround it. But Copernicus stated that the sun is thecentre of the solar system and the earth and otherplanets rotate around it.

In the year 91 A.H. two important events tookplace. The first was that a student of Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) while returning from Egypt, brought, as apresent for him, a representation of the solar systemwhich was made from sawdust. In Egypt, statues andmany other fine objects were made from sawdustwhich was first turned into a kind of dough. Visitors toEgypt took them home as souvenirs. Outside of Egyptthey were considered valuable items and were in greatdemand.

The representation of the solar system broughtby Muhammad bin Fatah from Egypt consisted of around disc or stand which represented the earth. Onthe disc was a globe, 48 clusters of stars orconstellations, which were known to Ptolemy. Thenames of the constellations were written in Egyptianlanguage. It was not Ptolemy but astronomers fromother nations, who saw the figures of different objectsin these haphazard groups of stars and gave them thenames of these objects.

In the middle of the globe was belt of 12 groupsof stars, from Aries to Pisces, representing the signs ofthe Zodiac. The sun, moon and the planets, which


were believed to rotate round the earth, were alsoclearly shown on this globe.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was only 11 years of agewhen this representation of the heavenly bodies wasbrought to Medina from Egypt. The day he saw theglobe he rejected the theory of Ptolemy. He said thatwhen the sun, during its course round the earth,passes through the 12 constellations in one year andremains in each constellation for 30 days why does itdisappear from sight during the night. It should remainvisible in each constellation for 30 days.

This was a very strong objection by a boy of 11years of age. But without understanding the logic of it,Muhammad bin Fatah, who had brought the presentfrom Egypt, replied, “Ptolemy says that the sun has twomovements. One of its movements is that it crossesthe sign of the zodiac and goes round the earth in oneyear and the other movement is that it goes round theearth in one night and one day, as a result of which wesee it rise in the east and set in the west.

Ja’far al-Sadiq (a.s.) remarked that those twomovements were not compatible. When the sun had topass through the sign of the zodiac in one year andstay in each constellation for 30 days how could itchange its course and go round the earth in 24 hours?

Muhammad bin Fatah said, “The sun leaves thebelt of 12 constellations at night and rises in the eastand sets in the west in order to create day and night.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) retorted, “It follows fromwhat you say that only in the daytime the sun is in thesign of the zodiac. If this is the case why do we not seethe sun at night?” Muhammad bin Fatah replied, “I do

not know why we do not see the sun at night. Mostprobably it casts a thick veil one its face.”

Some people might say that it is not a strangething that the people of Medina did not pay attention towhat Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had said when in the 17th

Century A.D. the people of England did not pay anyattention to Newton’s discovery. But there is a vastdifference between the two. The common people ofEngland in the 17th century A.D. were illiterate and tothem a scientific discovery was of no significance, butthe people, who attended the classes of Muhammadal-Baqir (a.s.) were learned people. They should nothave behaved the way they did. They should havediscussed the problem with Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),accepted his arguments or rejected them by means oflogic and reason, then tried to find out the case of theinterchange of day and night themselves. The level oftheir intelligence and understanding was so low thatthey did not understand his objection and the strengthof his arguments. They treated him like a child andignored his objections.

It is a fact that after the age of seven, childrenbecome very inquisitive and want to know everything.Sometime they ask so many questions that theirparents get irritated. If they do not receive satisfactoryreplies they go on asking questions. It can be said thatbecause of his age, the objections of Ja’far as-Sadiq(a.s.) were not taken seriously. Anyway, it is doubtfulthat they would have been taken seriously even if agrown-up person raised them.

In the middle of the 15th century A.D. Copernicushad said the same thing that Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had


said in the 8th century A.D., but no one accepted hisviews. He was fortunate that Poland, where he lived,was not under the jurisdiction of the Court of Inquisitionwhen he published his theory of rotation of the earthand planets round the sun. This was the sameorganization which had forced Galileo to repent andbeg for mercy for having said that the earth rotatedround the sun. If he had been in Germany, France,Spain or Italy, he would have been arrested. At thattime the Grand Inquisitor was a very cruel and narrow-minded person by the name of Torquemada. Heextracted their confession by force and then punishedthem.

MUHAMMAD AL-BAQIR (a.s.) ANDWALID BIN ABDUL MALIK

In the year 91 A.H. a very important event tookplace. Walid bin Abdul Malik, the Umayyad caliph,came to Medina. He was travelling with the pomp andshow of Byzantine emperors. Officials travelled aheadof the caliph to make arrangements for his stay andentertainment.

Omar bin Abdul Aziz, the governor of Medina,went 15 farsangs (one farsang is equal to 6.24kilometers) out of the city to receive him. Beforeleaving Medina he had furnished and decorated thebest house for the caliph’s stay. He had also madesuitable arrangements for accommodation of thosewho were travelling with him.

The day the caliph entered Medina it wasannounced that he would hold a public reception andreceive anyone who wished to see him.

Omar bin Abdul Aziz knew that Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) would not see Walid, because he did notrecognize him as the rightful successor of the Prophet.He went to see Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) and askedhim if he would see the caliph. The Imam replied thathe would not see Walid.

Omar bin Abdul Aziz said, “This city is associatedwith you and your family and it is like your house.Walid is coming here as your guest. Whatever he is, he


is a Muslim. You will surely see a guest who comes toyour house, even if he is a non-believer.”

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) replied, “The questionof guest coming to my house is quite different from thecoming of Walid to Medina. He has put on the robe of acaliph and is coming as the owner and master ofMedina.”

Omar bin Abdul Aziz remarked, “I know why youdo not want to see Walid. You are afraid that thepeople of Medina may think that you have swornallegiance to him.”

“Yes,” replied Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.).Omar said, “One of your ancestors signed a

peace treaty with an Umayyad caliph, thoughunwillingly, but for the good of the Muslims, but no onesaid that he had taken oath of fealty to him. If you seeWalid no one can say anything.”

Replied Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.), “I do not liketo see him.”

Omar said, “Walid has a secret organization,which was established by Muawiyah. Every Umayyadcaliph makes use of it for gathering information. Hemust have been informed that I have great love andrespect for you and your family. If you do not see himhe would think that my devotion to you has made youproud. He will surely remove me from theGovernorship of Medina.”

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) said, “I shall see himagainst my will. I do not want you to be in trouble forour sake.”

Omar asked, “Can I tell him that you will see himtomorrow?”

“Yes, you can”, replied Muhammad al-Baqir(a.s.).

When Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) arrived, Walidstood up to receive him. He seated him in front of himas if he was his equal in status. The Arabs paid greatrespect to the direct descendants of tribal chiefs.Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) was a direct descendant ofthe chief of the tribe of Bani Hashim. Besides, he wasa great scholar. For that reason also Walid had torespect him. Most of the Umayyad caliphs were notinterested in knowledge and learning, yet they alwaysmade a show of their love and respect for the learnedpeople.

When two persons have nothing to discuss theytalk about some trifling things, such as the weather,crops etc. Walid asked Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.)about the condition of the harvest. In that year, therewas heavy rainfall and the farmers hoped to reap abumper crop.

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) gave him a cursoryreply.

Walid asked him about his personal property andhow much it was worth.

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) said that he had asmall farm, the produce of which was enough for theneeds of his family.

Walid said, “If you accept, I can offer to you a bigestate inside the city of Medina or outside, whereveryou like, so that you may enjoy it as long as you liveand after your death it may pass on to your children.”

Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) replied, “My farmproduces enough food, which is sufficient for our


needs. As regards my children, they will work and earntheir living themselves.”

After that short discussion Muhammad al-Baqir(a.s.) got up, bade farewell to Walid and left.

The main object of Walid to visit Medina was tosee how his orders to expand the mosque were beingcarried out. He saw and approved the work ofexpansion of the courtyard. Then he entered that partof the mosque where Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) washolding his classes. His son, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) wasalso there.

When Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) saw Walid hestopped his lecture, the caliph requested him tocontinue. That day he was teaching geography andastronomy to his students. Walid had no knowledge ofthe subjects. He stood for some time and listened tohis lecture and then he asked, “What are youteaching?”

“I am teaching geography and astronomy,”replied Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.).

“What do you discuss in these subjects?” askedWalid.

“In these subjects, I teach my students about theearth, sun, moon and the stars,” replied Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.).

When Walid saw Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) in theclass, he asked the Governor of Medina, “What is thissmall boy doing here?”

“He is the son of Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) andis one of his students,” replied Omar bin Abdul Aziz.

“What can this boy get out of these lectures?”remarked Walid.

“Do not judge him by his age. He is more learnedthan any of the students here,” replied Omar bin AbdulAziz.

As desired by him Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) went toWalid, who looked at him carefully and remarked, “Heis still a child; how can he study in this class?”

“Test him and find out for yourself,” said Omarbin Abdul Aziz.

“What is your name?” asked the Caliph.“My name is Ja’far,” replied Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).Walid asked, “Can you tell me who formulated

the rules of Logic?”“It was Aristotle. His students had given that

name to him,” replied Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) without anyhesitation. The caliph than asked, “Can you tell mewho was Sahib ul-Maz?” Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied,“It is not the name of any person. It is the name of agroup of stars called Orion.”

Walid, who was very surprised, asked Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Do you know who was Sahib ul-Sawwak?”

“Abdullah bin Masud, who performed certainduties assigned to him by my grandfather, the Prophetof Allah (s.a.w.s.), was known by that name,” repliedJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).

Walid exclaimed, “Bravo, Bravo”, many times.Turning to Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) he remarked,“Your son will be a great scholar.”

Walid bin Abdul Malik was not wrong. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) emerged not only as a great scholar, butthe greatest scholar of his time.


Sahib ibad, who died in the year 385 of the Hijraand was buried in Isphahan, has written that afterProphet Muhammad (May Allah bestow His Blessingsupon him and his progeny) Islam did not produce ascholar greater than Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.). THE SYSTEM OF MEDICINE OF JA’FAR

AS-SADIQ (a.s.)We are not sure whether Muhammad al-Baqir

(a.s.) taught medicine or not, but we know for certainthat Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) taught this subject in hisAcademy. His research and his theories had greatimpact on the science of medicine. During the 2nd and3rd centuries of the Hijra most of the physicians in theEast followed the methods of diagnosis and treatmentprescribed by him. In cases where the condition of apatient was such that a physician could not knowwhether he was dead or alive, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)had suggested that a small incision should be made inhis body, especially between his two fingers. If bloodcomes out it was a sign that he was alive.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) made many discoveries inthe field of medicine and formulated new methods ofdiagnosis and treatment. No one before him had doneso much for advancement of the knowledge ofmedicine in the East.

By the word, “East”, we do not mean ArabianPeninsula. The Arabs had no knowledge of medicinebefore Islam. Among the ancient people only the Arabsmade no contribution at all to the science of medicine.There were no physicians in Arabia. If someone fellsick, he was left without medical aid to recover byhimself or to die.


The Arabs of the desert seldom fell sick. Theirmain food was camel’s milk, which provided all thenecessary nourishment for the body without depositingharmful residues. Many chronic diseases of today,which result in a patient’s death, are due to harmfulmatter deposited in our bodies from the food weconsume. Uric acid is one of them. Another factor,which contributed to good health and longevity of thepeople of the desert, was that they breathed fresh air.

The dwellers of the desert, however, sufferedfrom the diseases of childhood caused by microbes,which resulted in large number of deaths ever year.Child sickness was so widespread and such a big killerthat, as mentioned in “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” byLawrence of Arabia, the population of Arabia did notchange much from the beginning of the Islamic Era tillthe end of the 18th century. In some parts of Arabia thepopulation actually declined although Islam had done alot to increase the number of its followers.

The Arabs of the desert, who survived childhooddiseases, had a long and healthy life. On the contrary,those who lived in the cities suffered from manyailments and remained at home without a doctor andwithout any medication.

The situation did not improve because there wasno one in the whole of Arabia to teach medicine andproduce physicians. So far as our knowledge goes, thefirst person who started teaching medicine wasMuhammad al-Baqir or Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was not a physician byprofession so that he could have made thosediscoveries and formulated methods of diagnosis and

treatment after practicing medicine. Did he learn themfrom his father? Did Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) teachhim the science of medicine also? If so, the questionremains to be solved as to who taught medicine toMuhammad al-Baqir (a.s.)?


THE THEORY OF FOUR ELEMENTSOne of the subjects taught by Muhammad al-

Baqir (a.s.) was physics which included many subjectssuch as zoology, botany, geology, mechanics etc. Inthose days all of them were considered as parts ofphysics, but each of them is a separate subject today.If physics is the science which deals with materialthings, we must admit that Aristotle was right in treatingthem as parts of physics.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had learnt physics from hisfather. When he was only 11 years of age he hadattacked the theory of the rotation of the sun aroundthe earth. At the age of 12 he rejected the Theory ofFour Elements of Aristotle and proved that it waswrong. Criticising the theory he said, “I wonder how aman like Aristotle could say that in the world there areonly four elements-Earth, Water, Fire and Air?14 Theearth is not an element. It contains many elements.Each metal, which is in the earth, is an element.”

From the time of Aristotle, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),that is, for a period of about one thousand years, theTheory of Four Elements remained the cornerstone ofphysics. No scholar expressed his doubts in itsaccuracy. Yet a boy of 12 years of age from Medinaraised questions and proved that it was wrong.


When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) grew up and startedteaching in his Institute, he proved that Water, Air andFire were also not elements. One thousand and onehundred years before the scientists of Europediscovered that air was not an element and separatedits constituents, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said that air isnot an element, but a mixture of many elements.

By sound judgement and reasoning it could beaccepted that Earth is not an element, but it was notpossible to believe that air is not an element. Alleminent scientists after Aristotle, including thescientists of Europe of the 18th century, which was thegolden age of science, believed that air was anelement. It was only after Lavoisier separated oxygenfrom the air and demonstrated the important role itplays in breathing and combustion that they acceptedthat it is not an element.15

In 1794, Lavoisier, the father of modernchemistry, was beheaded by the sharp knife of theguillotine. Had he been allowed to live, he would havemade many other important discoveries.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was one thousand and onehundred year ahead of his time when he discoveredthat air is not an element. Shias believe that he madethose discoveries because he was an Imam and hadIlm Ladunni (divine knowledge).

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that there aremany elements in the air and that all of them areessential for breathing. After Lavoisier separatedoxygen and demonstrated that this is the element in



the air which supports life, scientists thought that otherelements play no part in breathing. It was quitecontrary to what Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had said. In themiddle of the nineteenth century scientists had tochange their views about the part played by otherelements in breathing.

By that time it was proved that although oxygenpurifies blood it also burns combustible materials,which come in contact with it. If living beings breathepure oxygen for a long time their breathing organswould be oxidized. Oxygen does not normally damagethem because it is mixed with other gases.

Presence of gases that are in very minutequantities in the air is also essential for breathing.Ozone, which has the same chemical properties asoxygen, plays a very important role in breathing. It fixesoxygen in the blood. Without the presence of ozone,oxygen cannot purify blood and will fail to perform itsfunction.

Oxygen being the heaviest of all other gases inthe air would have settled at the bottom and coveredthe surface of the earth up to a certain depth. As aresult, breathing organs of all animals would have beenburnt and animal life would have become extinct.Moreover it would have cut off the supply of carbondioxide, which plants need so badly, and made itimpossible for them to grow on the surface of the earth.Presence of other gases in the air does not let oxygensettle down to the bottom and destroy animals andplant life. At last, after more than one thousand yearsthe theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that presence of all

gases in the air is essential for breathing was provedcorrect.

Today this theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) doesnot seem to be important, but in the 1st Century of theHijra (8th century A.D) it was a revolutionary idea to saythat the air is not an element. In Eastern countries,including the city of Medina, which was the city of theProphet, such ideas could be expressed freely. But upto the 18th century such scientific ideas could not beexpressed or tolerated in Europe. In the religion ofIslam a Muslim cannot be accused of heresy if he saidthat the air is not an element, but the followers of manyother religions believed in the purity of the air andwater and considered them to be elements. It wouldtantamount to heresy if anyone of them said that the airwas not an element.

Priestly was born in 1733 A.D and died in 1804A.D.16 He discovered oxygen, but it was Lavoisier whofound out its properties. It is said, although there is noproof, that Priestly gave the name of oxygen to thisimportant gas. Oxygen is a Greek word composed oftwo syllables-oxy, meaning acidity and gen, meaningproducer. Oxygen, therefore, means the producer ofacidity.

The eminent scholar, Priestly, who cast off hisclerical robe and came from the church to thelaboratory, had made a great discovery. If he had notentered politics and continued his research, he wouldhave discovered the properties of oxygen also. Butpolitics removed him from laboratory work. He became



a staunch supporter of the French Revolution. As aresult, he was so hated in England that he had toemigrate to America where he wrote some books, butdid not continue his research on oxygen.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was the first person todiscover that oxygen produces acidity. We do not thinkthat he had made that discovery when he was astudent. Most probably he made that discovery whenhe had started his teaching career and had alreadydiscovered that oxygen is an element. He did not sayhimself that oxygen is a producer of acidity, but in thecourse of his lectures, he said that there are manyelements in the air but only one of them brings aboutchanges in different materials. It is the same element,which helps in combustion. Without the presence ofthis element in the air, combustion materials will notburn. He said that this element is so active and strongthat if it is separated from air and produced in a pureform, it would burn even iron.

It has been proved by experiments that pureoxygen can burn iron, as was said by Ja’far as-Sadiq(a.s.). If we take a piece of red-hot iron and plunge itinto pure oxygen, it will burn with a luminous flame.Just as in the old days people used to light a lamp byburning wicks in vegetable or kerosene, we can makeour lamp by putting the wick of red-hot iron into liquidoxygen. This lamp will produce intense light andilluminate our house.

It is reported that once Muhammad al-Baqir,father of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), said in his classroomthat by using scientific methods we can produce firefrom water, which extinguishes fire. This remained a

riddle till the eighteenth century when it was provedthat by employing scientific methods, fire could beproduced from water-a fire that is hotter than the fireproduced by burning wood or charcoal. If hydrogen,which is a part of water, is burnt with the help ofoxygen, which is another part of water, a flame of firewith a temperature of 667 degrees is produced. Thisprocess is called oxidation and is employed in weldingand cutting metals.

There is no evidence that Muhammad al-Baqir(a.s.) had obtained hydrogen. There is also no proofthat Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had obtained hydrogen oroxygen in pure form. But the experiments, which hehad made, were not possible if he had not obtainedoxygen in one form or the other. His following remarksare not his theories. They are the results he hadobtained by making experiments with oxygen.1. There is an element in the air, which is more

essential for breathing, than others. It is actually thesupport of life.

2. It is the same element, which, in the course of time,and in most cases, by direct reaction, brings aboutchanges in certain materials and putrefies them.

The words, “Direct Reaction”, must be kept inmind, in order to realize that the assessment anddescription on Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) of the nature ofoxygen was quite correct.

After Priestly and Lavoisier had discoveredoxygen and found out its properties it was believed thatit was only oxygen, which, in the course of time, reactswith foodstuff. That notion changed when Pasteurdiscovered microbes and proved that putrefaction of


foodstuff, dead bodies of animals and many otherthings is caused by microbes and not by oxygen. ButPasteur must have realized that microbes cannotsurvive without oxygen. Therefore, what Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had said is correct that in most case it isthe direct reaction of oxygen, which brings aboutchanges and in some cases it is an indirect reaction.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had also said that theelement, which supports life, is heavier than all otherelements in the air. It was a very important discovery.The world had to wait for about one thousand years tillLavoisier proved that oxygen is so heavy that in ninekilograms of water, there are eight kilograms ofoxygen, while hydrogen, which is twice the volume ofoxygen, is only one kilogram.

Time did not allow Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) to dofurther research on the element in the air whichsupports life and produces acidity. However, he wasthe pioneer and leader in the scientific study of oxygen.

It is reported that after the death of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) his students said that air or oxygen couldbe liquefied. This was a very old idea. Even beforeAristotle it was believed that all gases could beliquefied, but there were no means available to do so.

Lavoisier himself could not liquefy oxygenbecause till the end of the eighteenth century scienceand technology had not developed enough to enablehim to do so. Moreover, he was not allowed to live longenough to continue his work.

For a long time after Lavoisier scientists believedthat oxygen could not be liquefied. Finally technologydeveloped to such an extent that it became possible to

create very low temperatures, but in spite of thatadvancement in technology, it was not possible toliquefy oxygen in sufficient quantities so that it could beused in industry. It was only in the twentieth centurythat technology to produce very low temperaturesreached perfection. By producing a temperature ofminus 1830 degrees Centigrade, oxygen was liquefiedunder ordinary air pressure. The temperature of minus1830 degrees Centigrade is only 900 degrees aboveabsolute zero, which is minus 2730 Centigrade. At thistemperature the internal movement of matter comes toa standstill.

Many scientific ideas of today existed in old daysalso, but there were no means to make a practical useof them. Five hundred years before Christ, Democritushad enunciated the Theory of the Atom. He said thatmatter is made up of atoms and that there is a briskmovement inside the atoms.

If we forget, for the time being, the names ofelectrons, protons and neutrons, which werediscovered in the twentieth century, we will realize thathe had given a correct description of an atom.However, no practical use of this knowledge could bemade till the Germans tried to harness the power ofatoms and use it in World War II. Finally the Americansentered the race and succeeded in exploding the firstatomic bomb.


DID JA’FAR AS-SADIQ (a.s.) START THERENAISSEANCE MOVEMENT?

The theories enunciated by Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),after his study and research in the movement of theEarth and other heavenly bodies make him the fatherof the Renaissance movement at least in the field ofastronomy, if not in other branches of science. By theRenaissance movement we mean the revival ofknowledge in Europe, which started with theoccupation of Constantinople by Sultan Muhammad,the conqueror.

It must be acknowledged that the Muslim world,from its very beginning, was more amenable to newscientific ideas than the people of Europe. Until 17th

century, Europeans could not tolerate any newscientific idea. Nothing was more repugnant to themthan a new theory in the field of astronomy. There wasno risk if someone said something about the earth, airor water, but if he said anything about heavenly bodies,which was against the traditional belief of the people,he was in danger of being declared a heretic and wassure to be imprisoned and killed.

Greeks and Romans in ancient times were alsovery sensitive to new ideas in astronomy, which werecontrary to what they believed. When Anaxagoras, theteacher of Socrates, wanted to introduce Iranian

astronomy in Greece, he was declared a traitor anddeported from the country.

Anaxagoras actually wanted to introduce thePersian calendar. In that calendar a year had 365 daysplus a fraction of a day. Before Iranians had made theircalendar, it was known that there were 365 days and afraction of a day in each year. We have historicalevidence to show that it was known to Egyptians about2,000 years before the birth of Christ. It is not knownwhether the Babylonians had this information or not.Some knowledgeable persons are of the opinion thatancient people learnt astronomy and other sciencesfrom a very advanced and learned people, whoaccording to Plato, were destroyed in a naturalcalamity.

Most people were against new ideas inastronomy because they saw the movements of thesun, moon and the stars with their own eyes. They didnot believe what was against their own observation.However, they tolerated new ideas about the thingswhich they did not see themselves. Different viewswere expressed in ancient times whether the worldcame before the movement or the movement beforethe world. It was also disputed whether the soul wasborn before the body or the body before the soul, butno one was accused of heresy for holding an opinionon such matters.

In the 2nd century of the Hijra it was only in theMuslim countries that people had the freedom to sayand write anything about heavenly bodies. That is whyJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) could propound new theoriesabout the sun, moon and planetary bodies. Because


he was in a Muslim country, no one accused him ofheresy when he said that the earth rotates on its ownaxis which causes interchange of day and night.

ROTATION OF THE EARTH ON ITS AXISVasco de Gama, who discovered the route to

India, Columbus who discovered America andMagellan, who tried to go around the world, had notundertaken their journeys to make discoveries. Theyhad material benefits in mind. They knew that the earthis round, but there is nothing to show that they alsoknew that it rotates on its own axis.

When such a great scholar like Poincare (died1912), who lived in the 20 th century refused to believethat the earth rotates on its axis, how could the peoplewho lived in he 1st and 2nd centuries of the Hijra believein the theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that the earthrotates on its own axis.

Tycho Brahe, who died in the year 1701,belonged to a noble family of Denmark. Unlike Keplerof Germany, who was a pauper, Tycho was very richand used to throw big parties. He had a vastknowledge of astronomy. Without his help, Keplercould not have discovered his three famous Laws ofPlanetary Motion. Tycho had discovered that the earthrotates round the sun. He could publish his theorybecause no branch of the Organization of Inquisitionexisted in Denmark, a Protestant kingdom. In spite ofhis vast knowledge and extraordinary intelligence he


was unable to discover the earth’s rotation on its ownaxis.17

The rotation of the earth on its own axis could beproved by observation only. When astronauts landedon the surface of the moon, and directed theirtelescopes towards the earth they observed that it wasrotating slowly on its axis. In the beginning even spacetravellers could not see with their own eyes rotation ofthe earth on its axis, since they had no fixed station.They were travelling in their spacecrafts and goinground the earth every ninety minutes or so. At that highspeed it was not possible to observe the motion of theearth.

There is no star in our galaxy which does notrotate around itself. All of them follow the laws ofmechanics which govern the movement of heavenlybodies. Our own sun also rotates on its axis andcompletes one rotation in 25 days. The laws thatgovern the rotation of stars makes our spaceships alsospin in space.

When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) made that discoverydid he know the Laws of Mechanics of the stars anddid he know that when two forces work on an object insuch a way that one force pushes it away from thecentre and the other force pulls it towards the centre itstarts to spin? He definitely knew about these lawswhen he said that the earth rotates on its own axis,which produces day and night. Without the knowledgeof these laws it would have been impossible for him tomake that discovery.

17 The History of Science, by Spangenburg & Moser Vol. 2, pg. xii

THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THEUNIVERSE

Some people might say that it was only byguesswork that Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said that theearth rotates on its own axis. But the question arisesas to why no one else had guessed that for such a longtime. This proves that he knew the laws ofastrophysics, which enabled him to make thatdiscovery. If he had not known those laws, it wouldhave been impossible for him to discover the rotationof the earth on its axis. This discovery could not havebeen accidental. One must know the cause to knowthe effect. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) did not say what ledhim to come to that conclusion, but what he has said inrespect to many other problems of physics, are exactlyaccording to modern theories of science.

His other wonderful theory is about the origin ofthe universe. When scientists read this theory theyconfirm that it totally agrees with the modern theory,which has not yet become a law of physics. It may beright; it may be wrong. The theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq(a.s.) is also in the same category. It cannot be called alaw of physics. However, it has the unique distinctionthat it was enunciated 12 centuries ago, but it agreeswith our modern theory. It reads as follows:

“The universe was born out of a tiny particle,which had two opposite poles. That particle produced


an atom. In this way matter came into being. Then thematter diversified. The diversification was caused bythe density or rarity of the atoms.”

In the above theory two opposite poles are twonegative and positive charges of an atom. The twocharges were the cause of the creation of the atom.The atom produced matter. Varieties in matter are dueto the presence of more or less atoms.

When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was asked as towhen the universe came into being, he replied, “No, Icannot tell you the date of birth of the universe”, hereplied.

Shias believe that Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), who wasan Imam had unlimited knowledge, and knew the dateof birth of the universe, but he did not want to tellanyone. He remained silent not only in that case but inmany other cases as well. Whenever he thought that itwas not in our interest to know some of the secrets ofAllah, he remained silent.

THEORY OF OPACITY ANDTRANSPARENCY OF MATERIALS

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) made many discoveries inphysics which no one had even dreamt of before himand no one could think of after him. One of the lawsworked out by him is about opacity and transparency ofmaterials. He said that materials which are solid andabsorbent are opaque, and materials which are solidand repellent are more or less transparent. When hewas asked about the thing which is absorbed by anopaque material he replied, “HEAT.”

Today this theory is one of the Laws of Physics.How wonderful it is that in the 2nd century A.H. (7th

century A.D.) he could enunciate such a new andunique theory.

If we put the question to one hundred personstoday as to why one substance is opaque and theother transparent, not even one of them will give thecorrect answer. According to the law of physicsanything which conducts heat, electricity and magneticwaves is opaque, but those things which are poorconductors of heat, electricity and magnetic waves aretransparent.

His discoveries were not confined to the field ofscience only. He made great contributions to other


branches of knowledge as well. We shall discuss someof them in the next chapter.

LIVING BEINGS IN OTHER WORLDSHis other interesting theory is that there are living

beings in other worlds, who by their advancedknowledge might be trying to contact us. Since we donot know them nor understand their language, we donot realize that they want to get in touch with us andtalk to us.

No one before him had said anything about thepresence of living beings in other worlds, who might betrying to contact us and no one for centuries after himsaid a word in this connection. It was in the 19 th

century that Camille Flammarion of France raised thisissue and presented his theory about the possibility ofestablishing contacts with unknown beings of the otherworlds. However, he could not test his theory, sincetechnology had not advanced sufficiently at that timeand he had no means of communication at hisdisposal.

In the year 1920, Marconi of Italy, who was thefirst to make practical use of wireless technology,stated in a meeting of the officers of Italian Navy that inthe wireless station on his ship, he received radiowaves, which, without a shadow of doubt, were beingsent to the people of the Earth by some intelligent,educated and technologically advanced beings.18

Marconi could not extend the horizon of his



experiments. The telescope at his disposal was veryweak and he could not see through it anything beyondour solar system. At that time radio telescopes werenot invented and the 5 meter thick lens of the PalomarObservatory had not been manufactured through whichAstronomers can see galaxies which are at a distanceof two thousand million light years from our earth. Evenafter construction of the big telescope we have notbeen able, so far, to establish any contact with theunknown beings of the other worlds.

COMPOSITION OF THE HUMAN BODYJust like any other Muslim, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)

also believed that human beings were made from theearth, but no one could dream either during his lifetimeor after his death of what he has said about thecomposition of the human body. If anyone has saidanything in this connection he must have heard it fromhim or from one of his students.

He said that whatever is in the earth is also in thehuman body, but of all elements four are in very largequantities, eight elements in small quantities and eightelements in minute quantities.

Henry Bergson, the French philosopher, said thatevery atom, which exists from the time of the creationof the world or the universe has knowledge ofeverything that exists on the surface of earth. Just likethe atoms, every cell of the human body knows what isin the world. It also knows the history of mankind fromthe beginning of the world till today. Gaining access tothe boundless field of the subconscious mind has beencalled by him as “The Leap Of Life.” He said that theLeap of Life of a genius is much higher than that of anordinary person. He can make use of the knowledgewhich lies in the human cells.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was either endowed withdivine knowledge of the Imamate, as Shias believe, orhis subconscious mind was linked to his consciousmind, as some people think, or else his “Leap of Life”


was very big, as Bergson has said. Whatever may bethe case, he was the only person among hiscontemporaries as well as those, who came after him,who had knowledge of the human body.

Twelve and a half centuries after his death histheory is confirmed today by science and thereremains no doubt about its soundness and accuracy.What he did not do was to mention the names ofelements which are present in the human body.

There are 102 elements in the earth and all ofthem are present in the human body. Some of themare in such small quantities that it has not beenpossible to discover their exact proportion.

His statement that what is in the earth is in thehuman body is not important and proves nothing.Anyone who believes that man was made from theearth must also believe in that. What proves that hewas a genius is his theory that out of all the elementswhich are in the human body four elements are in largequantities, eight in small quantities and another eight invery minute quantities.

The above theory has been proved to be quitecorrect. The four elements, which are in largequantities in the human body, are Oxygen, Carbon,Hydrogen and Nitrogen. The eight elements which arein small quantities are: Magnesium, Sodium,Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Iron andChlorine. The other eight elements which are in veryminute quantities are: Molybdenum, Cobalt,Manganese, Copper, Zinc, Fluorine, Silicon and Iodine.

DISCOVERY OF HYDROGENIn his academy many new subjects were taught

which had never been taught before. Since the bookson those subjects were not available in Arabic, itbecame necessary to translate them into Arabic so thatall students could benefit from them.

For teaching physics, chemistry and otherscience subjects there was a laboratory attached to hisinstitute. It was a very small laboratory, but it wassufficient for the needs of his students.

It was not a miracle of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) thathe moved the mountain which no logical mind wouldbelieve, but his greatest miracle was that twelve and ahalf centuries ago he discovered the presence ofoxygen in the air.

His father, Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.), who wasalso a great scholar, had discovered the presence ofhydrogen in water. He had also found out that it was ahighly inflammable gas. That is why he said that watercould be turned into fire. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) musthave known about the presence of hydrogen in waterthrough his father, but he himself discovered thepresence of oxygen in the air.

We do not know if Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was ableto obtain pure oxygen and hydrogen or not. Thediscovery of these two gases depended upon theirseparation from air and water. Separation of hydrogenfrom water was more difficult than separation of


oxygen from air. Pure oxygen is available in the air, butpure hydrogen is not available anywhere. That is whyhydrogen could not be obtained till sufficient powerwas developed and water was hydrolyzed.

We are surprised how Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) andhis father were able to discover hydrogen, which is acolourless, odourless and tasteless gas and does notexist freely in nature. They could not have identifiedthis gas and found out its properties without separatingit from water through the process of hydrolysis, whichwas impossible without a strong current of electricity.

The first person who was able to separatehydrogen from water in modern times was the Englishscientist Henry Cavendish, who died in 1810 at the ageof 81.19 After working hard for many years he was ableto hydrolyze water and obtain hydrogen. On May 27,1766 he placed a burning stick near a container full ofhydrogen. Instantly it caught fire. The containerexploded and fire spread everywhere. If members ofhis household had not rushed to his rescue, the wholehouse and its contents would have been burnt. Heescaped with some injuries to his hands and his face.Through that bitter experience, Cavendish learnt thathydrogen is highly inflammable.

It was a general belief that water was nothing butliquid air because it evaporated in heat and becamepart of the air. Then it came down again in the form ofrain.

Cavendish, through his experiments, proved thatit was not liquid air, although he himself called


hydrogen “Inflammable air.” It was Lavoisier, theFrench chemist, who gave the name of hydrogen tothis gas.

In the time of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) electricity wasnot available. Had he and his father employed someother means, which modern scientists do not know, forseparating hydrogen gas from water without the use ofelectricity? This great discovery was not possiblethrough philosophical speculations and guesswork.

The pollution of air arising from excessive use offossil fuel for producing energy has caused Americansto consider using hydrogen as an alternative source ofenergy. But the problem of separating it from waterwithout the use of electric current has not been solvedyet.


THEORY OF LIGHTThe greatest achievement of Ja’far as-Sadiq

(a.s.) was his Theory of Light. He said that lightreflected by different objects comes to us, but only apart of the rays enter our eyes. That is why we do notsee distant objects clearly. If all the rays of light thatcome from them entered our eyes, objects wouldappear near to us. If we make a device through whichall the rays of light coming from the camels grazing at adistance of 3,000 zirah (one zirah is equal to 40inches) entered our eyes we would see them grazingat a distance of only 60 zirah and all other objectswould look 50 times nearer to us.

It was this theory, which helped Lippershey ofFlanker’s to make his first field glasses or binoculars in1608. Galileo made use of these binoculars andinvented his telescope on the 7th of January, 1610.20

When he directed his telescope towards the moon hewas surprised to see that it has mountains, plains andvalleys just as we have on the surface of the earth. Itwas at that time that he realized that earth was not theonly world. The moon was also a world.

The period between the invention of thebinoculars and the telescope was less than two years.Most probably the idea of making the binoculars andtelescope entered the minds of Lippershey and Galileo


at the same time, but it cannot be denied that Galileoleant a lot from the invention of Lippershey. Heexamined the binoculars, removed the defects whichcould possibly be removed at that time and made histelescope.

Galileo had studied in the University of Padua,Italy. After he completed his education he wasappointed Professor of mathematics in the sameuniversity.

If Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had not formulated histheory of light, binoculars and telescopes would nothave been invented and made and Galileo could nothave confirmed through visual observation the theoriesof Copernicus and Kepler that all planets including theearth, rotate around the sun.

The invention of telescope created so muchexcitement among the people of Italy that the Presidentof the Republic and the senators became interested tosee the solar system through it. Galileo took histelescope from the University of Padua to Venice andinstalled it on the steeple of a church. Aged senators,assisted by others, climbed the tower to observe theplanets and stars.

When Galileo was asked why his telescopemade heavenly bodies seem so near that they couldsee the mountains of the moon, he repeated the wordsof Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and said, “This telescopecollects all the rays of light coming from the heavenlybodies. When all the rays are concentrated, the objectswhich are at a distance of 3,000 feet away appear tous as if they were at a distance of only 60 feet.”


In the time of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), industry hadmade no progress to enable him to make a telescopeand observe heavenly bodies himself. Nevertheless itdoes not, in any way, reduce the importance of histheory. Could Newton, who discovered the laws ofgravitation, send the apple which had fallen on theground back to the sky and make it go round theearth?

The satellites which go to the moon, Venus andMercury obey the laws of gravitation discovered byNewton, but he himself could not send any satellite tothe planets.

Before the time of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) it wasbelieved that light from our eyes falls upon differentobjects so that they could be seen. He was the firstscholar who rejected that idea and said, “The rays oflight from different objects come to our eyes andenable us to see them. The rays of light from our eyesdo not go out and fall on other objects, otherwise wecould have seen them in the darkness also. We seeonly those objects which are luminous. If they are notluminous themselves, they must reflect the light fallingupon them from some luminous objects.”

He also put forward a very interesting theoryabout the speed of light. He has said that light is a kindof motion which is very fast. Since no technical aidswere available he could not measure the speed of light,but what he said is quite in harmony with the moderntheory of light.

It is reported that once, during the course of hislectures he said that a powerful beam of light couldmove heavy objects. The light which Moses saw at

Mount Sinai was of that kind. It could have moved themountain if God had so desired. It can be said that bymaking the above statement he laid the foundation ofthe theory of the laser.

The theory that a strong beam of light can moveheavy objects was also mentioned in the past but thefollowing theories are his own:(a) Rays of light are reflected by different objects and

enter our eyes.(b) We do not see distant objects clearly because the

rays of light coming towards us are scattered.(c) If the rays of light are concentrated by some device

we can see distant objects distinctly.(d) Light is a kind of motion which travels as a very

high speed.(e) A strong beam of light can move heavy objects.

From time immemorial it was supposed that lightcould move heavy objects. In ancient Egypt it wasbelieved that a very strong beam of light could passthrough a mountain and even move it from its place.This view was shared by the followers of other ancientreligions as well, but they did not explain how lightcould do that. Since sorcery and magic were parts ofancient religions they might have thought that lightcould do that by magic.

What Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) did not say about lightis that it is a kind of energy otherwise there is nodifference between his theory and the modern theoryof light. He was definitely a leader and a pioneer in thisfield as well. He has said that light travels very fast.The speed of light has been measured to be 300,000kilometers per second. It was very great speed by


ancient standards, but is not considered as such today.A distance of 300,000 kilometers is a very shortdistance as compared to the astronomical distancesbetween stars and galaxies.

TIME AND SPACETime, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said, is the

distance between two known events. It has noindependent existence. It is only we, who feel that itexists.

Time is a very old subject, which was discussedby Greek philosophers, who believed in the physicalexistence of time have said that it is composed of verysmall particles. Those particles were so small that theycould not be seen or touched. They were always onthe move. They came from one side and went to theother. No one could feel their movement, but thechanges made by their movement were noticeable inall the plants and animals.

They said that time was of two kinds. There wasone type in which particles moved and passed away,making changes in plants, animals and humans. Therewas another kind of time whose particles did not move.They were just like the particles of sand and dust,which had settled down at the bottom of a pit andremained motionless. That motionless and stationarytime was known as eternity.

In later periods also many philosophers refusedto believe in the physical existence of time, but they didbelieve in the existence of space.

We must pay homage to Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),peace be upon him, who said 1,200 years ago thatspace has no physical and independent existence and


is also subject to change. To a little boy the courtyardof his small house would seem quite big. However, ifhe leaves the house and comes back after an absenceof 20 years, the same courtyard would look very small.He would wonder why the courtyard, which was so bighas become so small.

How wonderful it is that his theories of time andspace correspond exactly to the modern theories ofphysics, although they have not been expressed in thescientific terminology of today.

TRANSFER OF DISEASE BY RAYSJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that patients

suffering from certain diseases emit special types ofrays. If these rays fall upon a healthy person, they areapt to make him sick.

The above theory was not acceptable tophysicians and biologists. They were of the opinionthat microbes and viruses were the main cause ofmany diseases, which were spread by insects, air,water, food and direct and indirect contact withpatients.

Before it was discovered that many diseases arecaused by microbes and viruses and spread byinsects, water, food etc. it was believed that diseaseswere spread by means of smell, which comes out ofthe sick person and steps were taken to prevent thespread of diseases through smell.

No one before Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), had eversaid that diseases were also transferred from oneperson to other by means of rays, emitted frompatients suffering from certain diseases. This idea wasrather ridiculed by the learned people till it was provedto be correct by scientific studies.

In Novosibirsk, Russia, which is a centre ofresearch for medicine, chemistry and biology,numerous experiments were conducted and it wasestablished that:(a) The cells of a sick person emit many kinds of rays.


(b) If a healthy person is exposed to the rays whichcome out of patients suffering from certaindiseases, he may contract the disease, even ifthere has been no physical contact between thetwo.

Russian scientists took cells from differentorgans of a healthy person and divided them into twoparts. They put one part of the cells in a jar of quartz,which shielded them from all kind of rays, exceptultraviolet rays, and the other part in a jar of glasswhich ultraviolet rays cannot penetrate. These jarswere put near another jar, which contained sick cells.After a few hours it was noticed that the healthy cells,which were in the jar of quartz, had also become sick,but the cells which were in the glass jar were notaffected at all.

Five thousand experiments were conductedduring a period of 20 years and each time the resultwas the same. Healthy cells were infected by theemission of ultraviolet rays from the sick cells and thesickness was, in all cases, the same as what the sickcells were suffering from. For instance, if the sick cellshad toxemia, the rays coming from them transferredtoxemia to healthy cells.

During experiments it was also observed thatwhen sick cells were treated with antibiotics, theintensity of ultraviolet rays, emitted from those cells,was greatly reduced and they had no adverse effect onhealthy cells placed near them.

The above experiments conclusively prove thatcells of living beings are transmitters and receivers ofultraviolet rays and that certain diseases are spread by

radiation from sick cells as Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) hadsaid.

Those experiments proved to be very useful. Thescientists and biologists learnt that if ultraviolet raysemitted by the cells of a sick person, are not allowed tofall on healthy persons, the spread of certain kinds ofdiseases can be controlled.

Russian scientists are collecting data of differentkinds of rays emitted from persons suffering fromvarious diseases and the intensity of photons ofultraviolet rays emitted by them. They say that it wouldhelp them in treating patients and controlling thespread of diseases. However, they do not say how itwould help them in the treatment of patients.

Some experiments in this field were conducted inAmerica also with the same results. The Americanscholar, who has done research on the subject andpublished results of his experiments in the form of abook, is Dr. John Oats.

The ill effects of ultraviolet rays on living tissuesare well known. Ultraviolet rays, which radiate from thesun, would destroy all living creatures on the surface ofthe earth, if they are not protected by a thick layer ofair.

Our knowledge about living cells and viruses isvery scanty. We know only that viruses are extremelysmall beings and that they enter our cells. We alsoknow that some medicines help us in our fight againstviruses. However, we do not know how they enter theliving cells. We also do not know why our cells becomeweak and old. If we know, we will fight against old ageand remain young.


Russian and American scientists havediscovered that sickness is transferred from sick cellsto healthy cells by means of ultraviolet rays, but theystill do not know how. So long as this remains amystery, it cannot be said with certainty that thesudden outbreak of disease in some areas was due toradiation of ultraviolet rays.

MATTER AND ANTI-MATTEROne of the theories of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is

that everything, except Allah, has its opposite, but thisdoes not result in a conflict, otherwise the wholeuniverse would be destroyed.

This is the theory of matter and anti-matter,which has been discussed briefly before and will bediscussed in some detail in this chapter.

The difference between matter and anti-matter isthat in matter the electrons are negatively charged andprotons are positively charged. But in anti-matter theelectrons are positively charged and protons arenegatively charged.

Scientists are of the opinion that if one kilogramof matter collides with one kilogram of anti-matter somuch energy will be released that the whole world willbe destroyed. But no one has so far conducted anexperiment to find out what would actually happen ifmatter collides with anti-matter.

Before Americans exploded the first atomic bombin 1944 it was believed that if an atomic bomb isexploded it would create such a chain reaction that allatoms of the world would disintegrate and it would bedestroyed, but nothing happened and the pundits, whohad made that prediction were proved wrong.

Scientists, however, argue that there is adifference between the explosion of an atomic bomband one due to the collision of matter and anti-matter.


When an atomic bomb or a hydrogen bomb explodes,part of matter is converted into energy. Only nineteenparts per thousand of matter of the atomic bomb,dropped on Hiroshima was converted into energy andthe rest had gone to waste.

The countries that have exploded hydrogenbombs have kept details of their experiments asmilitary secrets. We, therefore, do not know how muchmatter of a hydrogen bomb is converted into energy,but it can be said with certainty that no one has so farbeen able to convert 100% of matter of any kind ofbomb into energy.

Professor Hans Olof Costa, an eminentastrophysicist from Sweden, does not think thatexplosion of matter and anti-matter can destroy theworld. In his opinion our future source of energy is notatomic power, nor is it hydrogen from rivers andoceans, but it lies in the explosion of matter and anti-matter. He says that 50 kilograms of matter and anequal amount of anti-matter are quite sufficient tosupply the energy needs of the entire world for oneyear. He calls this kind of energy Matergy.

Professor Alfven thinks that if half a kilogram ofmatter is exploded with half a kilogram of anti-matter itwould create one hundred billion degrees centigrade ofheat, which is much more than the heat in the heart ofthe sun. It is estimated by astrophysicists that the heatin the centre of the sun is about 10 million degreescentigrade.

The question arises as to how human beings canharness such tremendous amount of heat and use iffor their needs. Professor Alfven does not consider it a

big problem. He says that the production of heat canbe controlled and reduced to a manageable level byhaving an imperfect explosion just like an atomicexplosion in which only a part of the matter isconverted into energy.

According to Professor Alfven exploding matterwith anti-matter and producing energy is not a scientificproblem, but it is an economic problem. A sum of ten tofifteen billion dollars is required to conduct experimentsand explode matter with anti-matter. No country in theworld is ready to spend so much money on suchexperiments.

Just as uranium was used for exploding anatomic bomb, helium would be used for explodingmatter with anti-matter. Russian scientists havealready obtained anti-matter of helium.21

21 Note: In the September 1973 issue of “Life and KnowledgeMagazine”, which is published in Paris, an article has appearedunder the heading: “The world of Anti Matter.” In this article thewriter has predicted the production of light by combining one atomof matter with one atom of anti-matter.


LIGHT OF THE STARSJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that among the

clusters of stars, which we see at night, some are sobright that our sun, in comparison, is quite insignificant.

Because of man’s limited knowledge about stars,many people during his time and centuries after him,considered this theory to be illogical, irrational andunacceptable. They could not believe that these smallspecks of light, which are called stars, can have morelight than the light of our big bright sun.

About twelve and a half centuries after the deathof that great man it was proved that what he had saidwas quite correct. It has been discovered that there arestars in the universe, which are billions of timesbrighter than the sun. They are called quasars. Thelight of quasars is about quadrillion times (ten thousandbillion times) the light of our sun. Some of them are ata distance of about nine thousand million light yearsfrom the earth.

The first quasar was discovered in the year 1927.About 200 quasars have been discovered so far.Astronomers need very powerful telescopes to studythese wonderful stars. The world’s largest telescopesare not considered powerful enough for studyingquasars.

Astronomers of the 19th and 20th centuries werenot surprised when they discovered giant stars, butwhen they observed quasars with their telescope they

held their heads with their hands lest they might losetheir senses and go crazy.

The discovery of quasars disproved the theory ofEinstein that the diameter of the universe is aboutthree billion light years.

The distance of nine billion light years is a verygreat distance and makes one stagger to imagine thevastness of the universe. Light covers a distance of9,800 billion kilometers per year. We have to multiplythis figure with nine billion to find out the distancebetween the earth and quasars.

What has confused and puzzled scientists is thelight of quasars. They fail to understand the cause ofthe power or energy within them which produces suchan intense and bright light.

Professor Alfven is of the opinion that there is noother source in the universe, which can generate somuch energy in quasars, except explosion of matterand anti-matter.

If the Russian scientists conduct an experimentand explode helium with anti-helium, mankind wouldnot only have an inexhaustible source of energy, itwould most probably solve the mystery of how somuch light is produced in quasars.


MULTITUDINOUS WORLDSAnother important theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)

is that there are so many worlds that we cannot countthem. Their number is only in the knowledge of Allah(SWT).

He has classified them into big worlds and smallworlds. He has said that the difference between themlies in their size only. Whatever is in big worlds is alsoin small worlds, but on a smaller scale. And whateveris in small worlds is also in big worlds, but on a largerscale. If we had the power, we could make smallworlds big and big worlds small.

These ideas are confirmed by physics. If vastdistance between the nuclei and electrons of atoms areremoved, the earth would shrink to the size of afootball, but weight would remain the same. It wouldnot be out of place to mention that all celestial bodies,including our earth, which rotate round the sun, haveno weight in space.

Radio telescopes not only scan the waves oflight, which come from distant stars, they also searchvast and limitless space for the presence of molecules.About thirty kinds of molecules have been discoveredso far. Some of them are the building blocks of aminoacids and proteins, which are principal components ofcells of all living organisms. The presence of thesemolecules in outer space is a sure sign that life on this

planet is not an exception, but it is widely spreadthroughout the universe.

It can be said with confidence that basicelements of life have always been coming to the earthfrom outer space. They were destroyed when the earthwas hot and molten, but after it cooled down graduallyand conditions become favourable, these moleculesproduced amino acids, protein, etc., which created thecell of living organisms including human beings.

Just as we have living beings on this planet,there must be living beings on many other planets inthe universe where conditions are suitable. It is alsopossible that inhabitants of some of the planets mighthave been there for millions of years before we cameinto being and have solved all the problems whichconfront us today.

We hope that some day we be able to establishcontact with the intelligent and sociable beings of otherworlds through radio telescopes and make use of theirknowledge and experience.

Archimedes, the Greek geometrician andphilosopher, who lived three thousand years beforeChrist, considered an atom to be indivisible. He saidthat if someone wanted to find out the number of atomsin the universe he should multiply 63 times 10 by 10.Today we find that the number of suns in the universeis more than the number of atoms, as he hadcalculated.

Eddington22 (Sir Arthur Stanley), the Englishphysicist, who died in 1944, has said that if we want to



find out the number of atoms in the universe we shouldmultiply 83 times 10 by 10. When he had calculatedthe number of atoms in the Universe by hismathematical formula, radio telescopes were notinvented and the great telescope of Mount PalomarObservatory in the United States, which enablesastronomers to probe the universe up to a distance oftwo thousand million light years, had not yet beenconstructed. It was the belief of astronomers at thattime that there were only one million galaxies in theuniverse.

In the eyes of Eddington and other scientists ofthe 19th century the universe was very small. Theuniverse of their imagination, as compared to the realuniverse, was just like a cup of water before aboundless and fathomless ocean. If Eddignton wasalive today and had seen quasars through radiotelescopes he would have definitely changed his views.

After the discovery of quasars, astronomers havecome to the conclusion that one hundred milliongalaxies and billions of stars in each galaxy, which wesee through our telescopes, are not within theboundaries of the real universe. They are only a fewcelestial objects scattered in the outskirts. The realuniverse begins from quasars, which are at a distanceof about nine billion light years from us. They arguethat if the boundaries of the real universe had notbegun from there, quasars would not have tenthousand billion times the light of our sun. Our sun isnothing compared to quasars. It converts only fourhundred billion tons of hydrogen into helium every 24hours. It would continue to do so and give light and

heat to us and to other planets for another ten billionyears. But in 24 hours a quasar converts ten thousandbillion times the amount of hydrogen converted by oursun.

Our telescopes are not powerful enough toenable us to see what is beyond quasars. Therefore,we do not know how vast the universe is. It can only besurmised that in the universe there would be millions ofmillions of worlds, which have existed for billions ofyears and shall continue to do so for billions of years tocome.

We must, therefore, accept, as Ja’far as-Sadiq(a.s.) has said, that no one, except Allah (SWT), knowsthe number of large and small worlds. In other wordswe, the humans, do not know them and cannot countthem.


EXPANDING AND CONTRACTINGUNIVERSE

A very interesting theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)is that the universe is not always in one and the samecondition. In one period it expands and in another itcontracts.

The phenomenon was considered for centuriesas inconceivable and the theory remained quiteincomprehensible to the leading astronomers.

After the 18th century, more and more powerfultelescopes were built and astronomers could seebeyond our solar system. They could also discover thecomponents of stars by studying spectrums of theirlight.

It was in the beginning of the 20th century thatAbbe Lemaitre, who was a priest and at the same timea Professor at the University of Belgium, noticed thatmany galaxies, which are close to our solar systemand could be observed clearly, are gradually recedingand scattering in different directions.

He communicated his observations to otherastronomers, who were working in differentobservatories in the world and asked them to checkwhether he was correct or not. Confirmation wasreceived from many observatories of Europe andAmerica that Lemaitre was correct and that manygalaxies, which are close to our solar system, are

moving away from our galaxy and the distancebetween them are gradually increasing.

When World War II broke our, all connectionsbetween astronomers who were interested in the studyof this strange phenomenon were severed. With thedeaths of Lemaitre and Eddignton, the Englishphysicist, further research in this field was suspended.

At the end of 1960 research work on the subjectresumed. It was observed and confirmed by allastronomers that distance between our galaxy and theneighbouring galaxies are increasing. We cannotcheck and confirm whether it is happening to othergalaxies as well. They are so far from us that wecannot observe them clearly through our presenttelescopes. However, these observations haveprovided sufficient proof that the universe is in a stateof expansion.

Hundreds of years after the death of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) a part of his theory that the universesometimes expands was definitely proved to becorrect. We do not know when this expansion started.It must have begun thousands of years before he wasborn. The universe was actually in a state of expansionwhen he said that it sometimes expands andsometimes contracts.

The discovery of black holes has proved hisother statement that the universe sometimes contracts.No one can imagine how much time these stars musthave taken to condense and contract. It is real death ofmatter when it has no movement at all. Is it the fateand destiny of matter that it may finally die and becomea black hole with such a deadly pulling force that even


light waves cannot escape its death trap? Just asexpansion of the universe is gradual, the contraction isalso gradual. These stars have not collapsed and losttheir identity overnight. Stars lost electrons and theirnuclei adhered together over millions of years.

Every time the world wakes up and starts movingand expanding it produces better and better plants,animals and human beings. The dirty, the deceasedand the decadent are discarded and destroyed andthey never wake up and return. At the end of thatperiod the earth starts shrinking and receding to itscentre. Animals and plants start dying anddisappearing till there is no trace of them at all. This isthe period of sleep, rest and contraction. No one knowshow long it lasts.

However, the soul of man does not die during theperiod of sleep and rest. It continues to improve andproceed from one state to another. Each time the earthwakes up, better and better human beings are born tillthey become perfect, go to paradise and attain eternalbliss.

POLLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that we should not

pollute environment otherwise it would becomeimpossible to live on this planet.

Definitely he had our times in mind when hemade those remarks. Pollution was not a problem inhis time. There was not a single factory in existenceand metals were smelted in small furnaces by burningwood.

It was during the 18th century that England,France and Germany started producing iron and steelin large quantities and chimneys of factory andfurnaces began spewing smoke twenty four hours aday.

The environment is so polluted in Europe andNorth America due to industrial expansion that marinelife in the river Rhine of Western Europe and the freshwater lakes of the United States and Canada are totallydestroyed.

The pollution of air on the surface of the oceansposes a great threat to mankind. We do not know howlong plankton, multi-cellular beings, which produceabout 90 percent of the world’s Oxygen, can survive.They live on the surface of water.

If the quantity of oxygen in the air is reducedeven by 10 percent, it would become difficult for us tobreathe. The air would not support and sustain life andall plants and animals, including human beings, would


die and disappear from the face of the earth. It is not atheory which may be right or wrong. It is a scientificfact which cannot be refuted.

It is estimated that if air pollution increases at thepresent rate for 50 years more, 50 percent of planktonwill die and the quantity of oxygen in the air would bereduced by the same proportion.

Sea pollutants also pose a threat to the existenceof plankton as well as marine life. When ships sail fromAfrica to South America, they pass through twothousand kilometers of water, which is full of wastematerial, produced by the people living on land. Thegarbage consists mostly of plastic materials, whichneither break up on land nor in water.

Huge oil spills also drift and accumulate at thisplace and kill oxygen producing plankton.

Accumulation of waste materials in the oceans ofthe world is more deadly and dangerous than atomicweapons. There may not be an atomic war due to thebalance of power, but destruction of plankton andreduction of the amount of oxygen in the air would becatastrophic for plants and animals including humanbeings.(a) We shall breathe with difficulty as if we are on top

of the Himalayas. Every living being would alwaysbe panting as if something is choking andsuffocating it.

(b) For the lack of oxygen in the air no fire will burnand no one would be able to light a cigarette.

(c) Workers and farmers would not be able to work inthe factories and fields as they work today and

students would not be able to concentrate on theirstudies in the classroom.

Pollution became a big problem from the time thefirst atomic bomb was exploded. The Super Powersstarted making and exploding bigger and bigger bombsand polluting the atmosphere.

The biggest pollution of atmosphere is radiation,which is a by-product of the fission of atoms in atomicpower plants. Atomic power plants themselves areticking time bombs. If accidentally the graphite core,which contains atomic fuel, bursts causing heat andradiation to escape, great havoc and destruction wouldbe caused for thousands of miles around.

While atomic power plants are producing cheapelectricity they are also producing the most deadly anddangerous material, radioactive waste. No one knowshow to dispose of it properly. All scientists of the worldare scratching their heads but cannot find asatisfactory solution to this problem.


HUMAN BEINGS SHORTEN THEIRLIVES THEMSELVES

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that human beingswere born to live long, but they shorten their livesthemselves. If a man strictly follows the dictates ofIslam, abstains from things proscribed under Islamiclaw and does not indulge in excessive eating anddrinking, which is condemned in the Qur’an, he is sureto enjoy a long and healthy life.

Without a shadow of doubt, longevity dependsupon following the rules of hygiene and abstaining fromexcessive eating and drinking.

In the first century B.C., the average age of aperson in Rome was 22 years, because the rules ofhygiene were not being followed. In early part of the20th century, the average age of the inhabitants ofEngland was 50 years, because they had betterhygienic facilities and they did not indulge in excessiveeating like the people of ancient Rome. Hygienicconditions in European countries have improved somuch today that the average age of a man is 68 yearsand the average age of a woman is 78 years. Lifeexpectancy would increase further, when a cure forcancer is found and heart attacks and brainhemorrhages, which are due to blocking of the arteries,are prevented.

What increases the life span of a person is notthe treatment of certain chronic diseases. It depends,to a large extent, upon his following the rules ofhygiene and abstaining from overeating. However, aman would eventually die. When he becomes old andthe main organs of his body are worn out, even thediseases which are curable will kill him unless old age,which according to some biologists is itself a disease,can be cured.

Pollution, which is a modern phenomenon, andposes a great threat to mankind, reminds us of thewarning given by Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that it wouldbecome difficult for us to live on this planet if we polluteour environment. The World Health Organization hasreported, after studying air pollution in some big citiesin U.S.A. and Mexico that living and breathing pollutedair of these cities has the same adverse affect on lungsand other organs of human body as smoking 40cigarettes a day. That is why many inhabitants of theseplaces are suffering from chronic ailments includinglung cancer.

Another health hazard for mankind is soundpollution. According to statistics, constant soundshortens a man’s life. It is not correct to say that whena person gets used to sound, it does not hurt him. Noone ever gets used to sound. It goes on, slowly butsurely, damaging his nervous system and the cells ofhis whole body. Constant sound not only makes onetired and exhausted, it reduces his life span from 5 to10 years. It is therefore, advisable that one should notlive in a big city, if possible.


Another thing which shortens a man’s life isimproper diet. The food, which is prepared in thefactories and is consumed by the people of Europe,America and other industrialized countries, has manyharmful ingredients.

It is reported that no one falls sick in Alaska,because their food is wholesome and healthy. Itconsists of milk, reindeer meat and white fish, whichabound in the rivers of the north. They have onlytoothache and that also at a very advanced age. MostAlaskans have their full set of teeth up to the age ofseventy or eighty.

GOOD ADVICE FOR MOTHERSJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has advised mothers that

they should put their newborn babies to sleep on theirleft side. This is another proof that he was a genius.

For centuries this advice was considered bymany as meaningless and absurd since no one couldsee any use in putting babies to sleep on the left sideof mothers. Some people even went to the extent ofremarking that it was dangerous to carry out hisinstruction. Mothers might take a turn while sleepingand crush the baby to death.

Muhammad Idris Shafei, who was born in theyear 150 of the Hijra (772 A.D.) (Two years after thedeath of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and died in 199 Hijra(821 A.D) in Cairo, was asked as to which side amother should put her baby to sleep. His reply was,“There is no difference between the right and the leftside. A mother can put her baby to sleep on any sideshe likes.”

No one in the East or West took that adviceseriously. Even during the Renaissance period, whenscholars in Europe studied every theory critically, noone tried to find out whether it had a scientific basis.

In 1865, Ezra Cornell, a financier andphilanthropist of America who had suffered greathardships during his childhood, founded CornellUniversity in New York. In this university he set up,


under the department of medicine, an Institute for theResearch on newborn and suckling babies.

This institute has been conducting research onthe subject for about a century. During that periodevery aspect and every problem of newborn andsuckling babies has been thoroughly studied andinvestigated. No institute in the world has moreknowledge and information about babies than thisinstitute. It is impossible that any subject, which isconnected with babies, has not been studied there.

In the first half of the 20th century researchscholars of the institute studied 466 pictures of babiesin all the famous museums of the world. It was noticedthat in 373 pictures mothers were holding their babiesin their left arms and in 93 pictures in their right arms.

A research scholar of the Institute, who traveledto different parts of the world, observed that mothers inevery country carried their babies in the left arms.Those, who took them in right arms, were left-handed.They carried their babies in right arms so that their lefthands might be free for carrying things. Women ofAfrica also carried their babies in their left arms; whenthey did not carry them on their backs.

No woman could give him satisfactory reply as towhy she carried her baby in the left arm. Women inAfrica knew that their babies like to suckle the leftbreast more than the right. Some women expressedsurprise that their babies could easily find their leftbreast in the dark when they were hungry during thenight. It was explained to them that babies were guidedto the left breast by their mother’s heartbeat.

Doctors, who work and study general behaviourof babies in the maternity wards of the attachedhospital, send their reports periodically to the Institute.These reports show that babies, who are put to sleepon the left side of their mothers, sleep soundly andpeacefully but those who are put on the right side wakeup every now and then and cry. It was also reportedthat for the first few days after their birth, babies wouldhave no rest at all if they were not on the left side oftheir mothers.

Research scholars of the Institute expanded thearea of their studies. They tried to find out whetherbabies of all races (other than the whites) alsobehaved in the same way, it was established that itwas a general and universal rule, which applied tobabies of all countries and all races of the world.

Research work on the subject was continued.Experts tried to study the behaviour of unborn babiesin the wombs of their mothers through X-rays, but it didnot produce any result and added nothing to theirknowledge. After the invention of holography,holographic pictures of unborn babies were takenwhich revealed that the mother’s heartbeat reached theears of the baby in the womb.

Experiments were conducted on differentmammals to find out the reaction of the fetus. Allexperiments showed that whenever the heart of themother stopped beating, the fetus became restless andagitated, because it feeds on the blood, which comesto it with each and every heartbeat.

These experiments proved that unborn babiesare not only used to hearing their mother’s heartbeat,


but their very existence depends upon them.Heartbeats mean to them a constant supply of food.Stoppage of heartbeats signals starvation after theyare born; they become restless, if they do not hear it. Anewborn knows its mother’s heartbeat quite well andthat is why it sleeps comfortably and peacefully when itis on the left side of the mother and can hear theheartbeats clearly.

As an experiment, babies in the nurseries of theResearch Institute were segregated into two rooms.Artificial heartbeats could be heard in one room but notin the other. Babies who were in the room whereheartbeats were heard, remained calm, quiet andpeaceful, but those, who were in the other room,started crying. Since then all nurseries have devices,which produce artificial heartbeats, so that babies mayremain happy and contented.

Usually the heart of a healthy person, man orwoman, beats about 72 times per minute. As anexperiment, artificial heartbeats were increased from72 to 100 and 120 times per minute. As soon as thenumber of heartbeats were increased all babies startedcrying. This experiment showed that any increase ordecrease in the number of heartbeats is, to babies, analarm of danger, which makes them cry.

It was also observed that babies, who were in theroom where they could hear artificial heartbeats, had akeen appetite for food, took it with great relish andgained weight. But those who were in the other room,where no heartbeats were heard, had no inclination toeat and did not gain as much weight as babies in the

other room, although all of them were given the samekind of food.

If Cornell University had not been establishedand the research work on babies was not done, no onewould have ever realized the scientific importance ofthe advice of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that mothers shouldput their babies to sleep on their left side.


THE THEORY OF PERPETUAL MOTIONJa’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that everything in

the universe, including inanimate objects, is always inmotion although we may not see it. There is nothingwhich is without motion.

This theory, which was unacceptable in his time,is a scientific fact today. It is impossible to imagine,explain and describe an object in the universe that iswithout motion. Motion is the essence of being. If thereis no motion there is no existence.

He has stated that it seems to us that when aperson dies, his actions and movements come to anend. It is not so. They will continue in another form.Even if the smallest particles of the human body areconverted from matter into energy, they will continue tomove in the form of energy till end of time.

He added that we feel the passing of time,because of our internal movement. Similarly our senseof space is due to this movement. Without it we cannotfeel the passage of time and have a sense of space.

There are two kinds of motion in every object-motion inside the atoms and perpetual vibration withinthe molecules. The molecules vibrate from zero to tentrillion times per second according to the temperature.

JA’FAR AS-SADIQ (a.s.) AND ABUSHAKIR

Once Abu Shakir, one of his opponents, said tohim, “Would you allow me to say something and asksome questions?” “Yes, you can”, replied Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).

Said Abu Shakir, “Is it not a myth that there isAllah? You want people to believe in a thing whichdoes not exist. If there was Allah, we could have felthis existence through our senses. You may say that wecan feel His presence by the help of our inner senses,but our inner senses also depend upon our five outersenses. We cannot conjure up an image of anything inwhich some of our senses were not involved. Wecannot conjure up the picture of a person whom wehave not met; recall to our memory his voice if we havenot heard him and feel the touch of his hand by ourinner senses if we have never taken his hand in ourhand.

You may say that we can perceive the presenceof Allah by our intelligence and not through our inner orouter senses. But our intelligence also needs theassistance of our five outer senses, without which itcannot function. We cannot make any reasoning orcome to any conclusion without the help of our senses.


By your imagination you have created a being,which is of your own image. Since you see, talk, hear,work and rest, He also does exactly what you do.

You do not show Him to anyone. To maintainyour hold on the people you say that He cannot beseen. You also say that He was not born from thewomb of a woman. He does not procreate and that Hewould not die.

You say that the universe was created by Allah,who did not talk to anyone, except to the Prophet ofIslam. As a matter of fact the universe came by itself.Does anyone create the grass, which grows in thefield? Does it not grow and get green by itself? Doesanyone create the ants and the mosquitoes? Do theynot come out by themselves?

I must tell you, who claims to be a scholar andthe successor of the Prophet, that among all thestories, which circulate among the people, none ismore absurd and baseless than the story of Allah, whocannot be seen.

There are many baseless stories, but they, atleast, depict real life and present before us the peopleand personalities, who may themselves be fictitious,but their acts and deeds are like those of real humanbeings. We can see them. They eat, they drink, theytalk, they sleep and they love. When we read thesefictitious stories, we enjoy them. We know that they arefalse, but we seen in them the faces of men andwomen, who are like us. The people mentioned in thestories might not have existed, but our common senseaccepts the existence of such people in the world.However, when we cannot see, feel or touch your

Allah, our logic and reasoning, which depend upon oursenses, do not accept his existence.

I known that some people, who have beendeceived by you, believe in your invisible Allah, but youcannot deceive me and make me believe in Him. Iworship God, who is made of wood and stone.Although my God does not talk, but I can see him withmy eyes and touch him with my hands.

You say that the God whom I have made frommy own hands is not worthy of being worshipped, whileyou ask the people to worship Allah, Whom you havecreated by your imagination.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) did not say a word duringthe long tirade of Abu Shakir. Sometimes his students,who were present, wanted to intervene but he askedthem to remain quiet. When Abu Shakir stopped hislengthy discourse, he asked him, if he had anythingmore to say.

Retorted Abu Shakir, “By introducing yourinvisible Allah to the people, you want to acquirewealth and position and have a respectable,comfortable and luxurious life. These are my lastwords. I do not want to say anything more.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “I would like to startwith the last part of your speech. Your accusation that Iwant money, position and a comfortable life wouldhave been justified if I were living like a caliph. Youhave seen today that I have eaten a few morsels ofbread only and nothing else. I invite you to my house tosee for yourself what I have for dinner and how I live.

Abu Shakir, if I wanted to acquire wealth and getrich I would have earned money and got rich by my


knowledge of chemistry. Another way to get rich was todo business. I have more knowledge about foreignmarkets than any merchant in Medina. I know whatgoods are produced in different countries and where tosell them for profit. I also know how to bring them hereto reduce the cost of transport. Our merchants importgoods only from Syria, Iraq, Egypt and some otherArab countries. They do not know what goods areavailable in Isphahan, Rasht and Rome, otherwise theywould have imported them and sold them with profit.

Abu Shakir, you have said that I ask the peopleto worship Allah to deceive them and to get rich. I musttell you that I have never taken anything from anyone,except some fruits, as presents. One of my friendssends to me every year fresh dates from his gardenand another some pomegranates from Taif. I acceptthese presents so that they may not get offended.

I have heard, O Abu Shakir, that your father wasa pearl merchant. Perhaps you may have someknowledge about pearls. But I know all about pearlsand precious stones. I can also appraise their marketvalue. If I wanted to get rich I would have worked as ajeweller. Can you test and recognize a precious stone?Do you know how many kinds of rubies and emeraldsthere are in the world?”

“I know nothing about them”, replied Abu Shakir.“Do you know how many kinds of diamonds there

are and what colours they have?” asked Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).

“I do not know”, replied Abu Shakir.Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “I am not a jeweller,

but I know all about pearls and precious stones. I also

know where they come from. All jewellers know aboutgems, what I know, but few of them know theirsources.”

“Do you know what makes a diamond shine?”asked Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).

“I never was a diamond merchant, nor was myfather. How can I know why diamonds shine?”, repliedAbu Shakir.

Said Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Diamonds areobtained from the beds of rivers and streams. Roughdiamonds are cut by experts. It is the cut of a diamond,which gives it its brilliance. Those who are experts incutting diamonds are trained from childhood in theprofession of their forefathers. Cutting a diamond is avery delicate and difficult art. A diamond is cut only bya diamond.

Abu Shakir, I have said all this simply to show toyou that if I wanted to accumulate wealth, I could havedone so by making use of my knowledge about jewels.I have replied to your accusations and now I shall dealwith your objections.

Abu Shakir, you have said that I have fabricatedstories and ask the people to worship Allah, whocannot be seen. You refuse to acknowledge theexistence of Allah because He cannot be seen. Canyou see inside your own body?”

Replied Abu Shakir, “No, I cannot.”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “If you could have

seen what is inside you, you would not have said thatyou do not believe in Allah, who cannot be seen.”


Abu Shakir asked, “What is the relationshipbetween seeing within one’s own body and theexistence of unseen Allah?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “You have said justnow that a thing, which cannot be seen, touched,tasted or heard, does not exist.”

Abu Shakir said, “Yes, I have said that and Ibelieve it is true.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) asked, “Do you hear thesound of the movement of blood in your body?”

Said Abu Shakir, “No, I do not. But does bloodmove in the body?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Yes, it does. It makesa full circuit of your body. If the circulation of bloodstops for a few minutes you will die.”

Abu Shakir said, “I cannot believe that bloodcirculates in the body.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “It is your ignorance,which does not let you believe that your bloodcirculates in your body, and the same ignorance doesnot let you believe in the existence of Allah, Whocannot be seen.” Then he asked Abu Shakir whetherhe has seen the tiny living beings, which Allah hascreated in his body.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) continued, “It is because ofthese small creatures and their wonderful work thatyou are kept alive. They are so small that you cannotsee them. Since you are a slave of your senses, youcannot know about their existence. If you increase yourknowledge and decrease your ignorance, you willcome to know that these small beings in your body are

as large in number as the particles of sand in thedesert.

“These small creatures are born in your body,multiply in your body, work in your body and die in yourbody. But you never see them, touch them, taste themor hear them in your lifetime.”

“It is true that one who knows himself knowsAllah. If you had known yourself and had theknowledge of what is going on inside your body, youwould not have said that you do not believe in Allah,without seeing Him.”

Pointing to a huge stone he said, “Abu Shakir, doyou see the stone, which is at the foot of that portico?To you it seems lifeless and motionless, because youdo not see the brisk motion, which is inside the stone.Again it is lack of knowledge or your ignorance, whichwould not let you believe that there is motion inside thestone. The time will come when the learned peoplewould see the motion which is in the stone.”

Continued Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Abu Shakir,you have said that everything in the universe came byitself and has no creator. You think that the grass in thefield grows and gets green by itself. You must knowthat the grass cannot grow without seeds and seedswould not germinate without moisture in the soil andthere would be no moisture without rain. The rain doesnot fall by itself. First the water vapour rises andgathers above in the atmosphere in the form of clouds.The winds bring the clouds. Then the water vapourcondenses and falls down as rain. The rain must alsofall at the right time; otherwise no grass will grow andbecome green.


Take the seeds of ten kinds of herbs and putthem in a closed jar, which has sufficient water, but noair. Would they germinate? No, in addition to water,seeds also need air. It is possible to grow grass, herbsand fruits in hot houses, when it is very cold, providedthere is sufficient air. Without the presence of air nograss will grow in the fields and get green. If there is noair, all plants and animals, including human beings,would die.

Abu Shakir, do you see the air, on which yourvery existence depends. You only feel it when itmoves. Can you refuse to believe in the existence ofair? Can you deny that to grow and get green the grassneeds many things-seeds, soil, water, air, a suitableclimate and above all a strong managing power, whichmay coordinate the action of these different elements.That Managing and Coordinating Power is Allah.

You say that everything comes by itself, becauseyou are not a scientist. No scientist would ever saythat. All scientists and all scholars believe in theexistence of a creator, albeit, they may call Him bydifferent names. Even those, who do not believe inAllah, believe in a Creative Force.

Abu Shakir, it is not because of one’s knowledge,but it is due to his ignorance that he does not believe inAllah. When a wise man thinks of himself, he finds thathis own body needs a controller so that all its organsand systems may function properly. He then realizesthat this vast universe also needs a controller orsupervisor so that it may run smoothly.

You said just now that both of us create our owngods, you by your hands and I by my imagination. But

there is a big difference between your god and myAllah. Your god did not exist before you made him outof wood or stone, but my Allah was there before I couldthink about Him. I do not create my Allah by my handsor by my brain. What I do is to know Him better andthink of His Greatness. When you see a mountain youtry to know more about it. It is not creating themountain by imagination. That mountain was therebefore you saw it and it would be there when you aregone.

You cannot know much about the mountainbecause of your limited knowledge. The more yourknowledge grows, the more you will learn about it. It isimpossible for you to find out when and how thatmountain came into being and when it woulddisappear. You cannot find out what minerals are thereinside or underneath the mountain and what is theirbenefit to mankind.

Do you know that the stones, out of which youmake your idols, came into being thousands of yearsago and shall exist for thousands of years more. Thesestones have come here from a distant place. Theycould travel that long journey because different parts ofthe earth are always moving, but this movement is soslow that you do not feel it.

There is nothing in the universe, which is not inmotion. Rest or motionlessness is meaningless. Weare not at rest even when we are sleeping. We are inmotion because the earth is in motion. Besides, wehave a motion inside our own bodies.

Abu Shakir, if you had any knowledge about thepiece of stone, out of which you carve an idol, you


would not have denied the existence of Allah and saidthat I have created him by my imagination. You do notknow what a stone is and how it came into being.Today you can handle it as you like and cut it into anyshape or form, but there was a time when it was inliquid state. Gradually it cooled down and Allahsolidified it. In the beginning it was quite brittle andwould have broken into pieces in your hand like apiece of glass.”

Asked Abu Shakir, “Was it in a liquid conditionbefore?”

“Yes, it was”, replied Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).Abu Shakir burst out laughing. One of the

students of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) got angry and wasabout to say something when he was stopped by histeacher.

Abu Shakir said, “I am laughing because you saythat stones are made of water.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “I did not say thatthe stones are made of water. What I had said was thatin the beginning they were in a liquid state.”

Abu Shakir said, “What difference does it make?Liquid and water are one and the same.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “There are manyliquids which are not water. Milk and vinegar are liquidswhich are not water, although they have a watercontent in them. In the beginning the stones were liquidlike water and they flowed like water. Gradually theycooled down and became hard so that you could cutand shape them. The same hard stones will turn liquidif heated.”

Said Abu Shakir, “When I go home I will checkthe truth of your statement. I will put the stone in thefireplace and see if it turns into liquid or not.”

Said Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “You cannot liquefystone in your fireplace. Can you liquefy a piece of ironat home? A very high temperature is required to turnsolid stone into liquid.

Do you realize how you could make idols out ofstones? It was Allah, who made the stones. It was HeWho created you and gave you hands with uniquefingers, which enabled you to handle tools and chiselthe idols from stones. Again it was He who gave youpower and intelligence, which you used for making theidols.

Abu Shakir, do you think that the mountains areonly heaps of stones? The Great Allah has createdthem to serve some very useful purpose. They werenot created so that you may take stones and turn theminto idols. Wherever there is a mountain there isflowing water. Rain and snow which fall on themountaintops produce streams of fresh water. Thesestreams combine together to form big rivers, whichirrigate farms and fields. The people who live in thevalleys, through which the rivers flow, are assured ofconstant supply of water.

People, who can afford it, go to the mountainduring the summer season to escape the heat of theplains.

The mountains work as a great bulwark andprotect towns and villages, which are in their valleys,from the devastation and destruction of hurricanes.


Green mountains provide good grazing groundsfor sheep. When scorching heat burns the pasturesdown in the plains and no fodder is left, the shepherdstake their flocks of sheep to the mountains and staythere till the end of summer.

Mountains are habitats of birds and animals,some of which are a good source of food for those wholive there.

Even the mountains, which are not green, are notwithout some use. If the people try, they may discoverin them mines of metals and minerals which are usefulfor mankind.

Abu Shakir, I am too small and too weak tocreate Allah with my brain. It is He, who has createdmy brain, so that I may think of Him and know that Heis my Creator. He was there before I came into beingand He would be there when I am no more. I do notmean that I would be totally destroyed. Nothing in theuniverse is totally destroyed. Everything is subject tochange. It is only Allah, Who does not change.

Abu Shakir, please tell me sincerely to whom willyou turn for help when you are in trouble? Do you hopethat the idol you carve out of stone can come to yourrescue? Can it cure you when you are sick; save youfrom mishaps and calamities; save you from starvationand help you pay your debts?”

Abu Shakir replied, “I have no such expectationsfrom stone, but, I think there is something inside thestone, which will help me. Moreover, I cannot helpworshipping it.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) enquired, “What is insidethe stone? Is it also stone?”

“I do not know what it is. But it cannot help me ifit is also stone”, replied Abu Shakir.

Said Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Abu Shakir, what isinside the stone and is not stone and can help whenyou are in trouble is, Allah.”

Abu Shakir pondered over the subject for a whileand then said, “Is Allah, who cannot be seen inside thestone?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “He is everywhere.”Abu Shakir said, “I cannot believe that a thing

may be everywhere but remain unseen.”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Do you know that air

is everywhere but cannot be seen?”Said Abu Shakir, “Although I cannot see air, I

can, at least, feel it when it moves. But I can neithersee your Allah nor feel His presence.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “You do not feel thepresence of air when it is not moving. The air is only acreation of Allah. He is everywhere, but you cannot seeHim or feel His presence by your senses. You haveadmitted just now that although you do not see it, butyour instinct or your soul tells you that there issomething inside the stone, and is not the stone, whichcan help you. That something is Allah. Your instinctalso tells you that you cannot live without Allah andwithout worshipping Him.”

Abu Shakir said, “It is true. I cannot live withoutworshipping idols.”

Said Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Do not say idols. SayAllah. It is He, Who is worthy of worship. Just like you,everyone is obliged to worship Him. One, who does notworship Allah has no guide and no guardian. He is just


like one, who cannot see, cannot hear, cannot feel andcannot think. He does not know where to go and onwhom to depend when in trouble.

Worshipping Allah is a part of life. Every livingbeing worships Him instinctively. Even the animalscannot live without worshipping Him. We cannot askthem and they cannot tell us that they worship Allah,but their well-regulated and orderly life is sufficientproof that they worship Him.

I do not say that animals believe in Allah andworship Him just as we do. But there is no doubt thatthey obey the laws made by their Creator faithfully,which means they worship Him. If they were notobedient to their Creator, they could not have such anorderly and regulated life.

We see that just before the advent of spring thelark (a kind of small bird) always comes at the sametime and sings, as if to give us the tiding of the newseason. The itinerary of these migratory birds is soregulated and their schedule so fixed that even if thelast days of winter are still cold, their arrival is notdelayed for more than a few days. When the swallow(a migratory bird) returns after covering a distance ofthousands of miles, it builds its nest at the same place,where it had built it last spring. Was it possible forthese small birds to have such a well organized life ifthey did not obey the laws of Allah and worship Him?”

Abu Shakir, even the plants obey the laws madeby Allah faithfully and worship Him. Out of 150 speciesof plants, which are further divided into hundreds ofsub-species you will not find even one plant, which hasa disorganized and disorderly life.

Abu Shakir, just like us, the plants also do notsee their Creator, but they worship Him by obeying Hislaws instinctively.

I know that you will not accept, or perhaps, youdo not understand, what I say. A man must havesufficient knowledge to understand complicatedproblems.

Abu Shakir, not only animals by their animalinstinct and plants by their plant instinct obey Allah andworship Him, the lifeless and inanimate objects also,with whatever instinct they have, obey Allah andworship Him. If they did not worship Him, they wouldnot have followed the laws made by Him. As a result,their atoms would have broken apart and they wouldhave been destroyed.

The light of the sun also worships Allah byobeying His laws, which are very stringent and exact. Itcomes into being by the combination of two oppositeforces. These forces also obey the laws of Allah andworship Him, otherwise they cannot produce light.

Abu Shakir, if there was no Allah there wouldhave been no universe and neither you nor me. Thesentence, “There is no Allah’, is meaningless. Theexistence of Allah is a must. If attention of Allah isdiverted, even for a moment from the affairs of theuniverse to something else, it would break up.Everything in the universe obeys His laws, which arepermanent and eternal. Because of His absolutewisdom and knowledge, he could make such wonderfullaws, which will last forever. Each and every law, madeby Him serves some special and useful purpose.”


When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) concluded hisdiscourse, Abu Shakir fell into a deep reverie as if hewas greatly inspired.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) asked, “Do you now believethat Allah, who cannot be seen, does exist and whatyou worship is the unseen Allah?”

Abu Shakir replied, “I am not yet convinced. I amin a quandary. I am full of doubts and misgivings aboutmy faith and my convictions.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) remarked, “Doubt about idolworship is the beginning of the worship of Allah.”

DEATH, A BOON TO MANKINDContinuing his discourse Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)

said, “Abu Shakir, one of the laws of Allah is death.Ignorant people think that death does not serve anyuseful purpose or it is, rather, harmful to humanbeings. Some people have said that it is a cruel act ofAllah.

Death serves a very useful purpose and isessential for the survival of mankind. If there were nodeath the human race would have become extinct.Scientists, who tried in the past to do away with naturaldeath, were making a big mistake. I would appeal tothe future generation of scientists that they should nottry to do away with death.

If we suppose that nothing would happen andthat human beings would live happily and peacefullyafter the conquest of death, they would multiply somuch that every piece of land would be occupied bythem and nothing would be left for agriculture andfarming. There would be so much shortage of food thatthe hungry people would first eat all the animals andthen start eating one another.

Committing suicide is against theCommandments of Allah. He has ordered us topreserve our lives and the only way to keep us alive isnot to indulge in overeating and drinking. Excessiveeating and drinking shortens life. It is for the safety andpreservation of life that my grandfather, ProphetMuhammad (s.a.w.s.), has asked us not to eat too


much meat and make our stomachs graveyards ofanimals.”

Abu Shakir asked, “What does it mean?”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “It means that we

should abstain from eating too much meat.”Abu Shakir asked, “Please let me know what is

death?”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Death is cessation

of the functions of different parts of the human body,specially stopping of heart beats and breathing.”

Abu Shakir asked, “What causes one to die.”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “One cause of

death is sickness, including the internal sickness,which causes sudden death. The other cause of deathis old age. Even if a man is healthy he will die someday due to old age. The Greek philosopher,Hippocrates, has said that old age is also a kind ofsickness. No one will die when it is known how to treatit and cure it.”

Abu Shakir remarked, “But no physician can curethe sickness of old age.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) added, “I do not think thatold age can ever be cured. Allah has created old ageand death by His Will and with a great purpose.Whatever Allah has ordained must happen. He hassaid that everything would die except He, the Creatorof Life and Death. Death is the change of matter fromone form to another. Nothing in nature remains in oneand the same condition forever. Death is for the goodof mankind. It is essential for the survival andcontinuation of human race. If it was not created by

Allah, human beings would have created itthemselves.”


JA’FAR AS-SADIQ (a.s.) AND JABIR IBNHAYYAN

Jabir ibn Hayyan was one of his students, whoused to have long discussions with his teacher. Oneday, in the course of teaching philosophy, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said that everything in the universe is inmotion. If there was no motion the shape of thingswould be quite different from what it is today.

Jabir asked, “Are you sure that everything in theuniverse is in motion?”

“Yes, I am sure,” replied Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.).Jabir asked, “Does the sound have motion?”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Yes, it has. But the

speed of sound is slower than the speed of light. Yousee from a distance the sledge of an ironsmith fallingon his anvil first and hear the sound afterwards. It isbecause the light waves, which travel faster, reachyour eyes first and then the slow-moving sound wavesafterwards.”

Jabir asked, “Can you tell me the speed ofsound?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Archimedes, theGreek philosopher, who measured the speed of sound,has said that if a man is 400 zira (one zira-40 inches)away from the source of sound, he would hear if after 8seconds. The greater the distance, the longer it willtake to reach him.

Some Greek philosophers have said that motionis a form of matter and matter is a kind of motion.Without motion there would be no matter and if motionstops, the matter would be destroyed. Some of themconsidered human thoughts also as an offshoot ofmatter. They said that there could be no thoughtwithout matter, just as there can be no fragrancewithout flowers. If the matter were destroyed therewould be no thoughts at all.

O Jabir, by saying that everything would bedestroyed, they contradict themselves. The samephilosophers had said before and it is also believedtoday that nothing is destroyed in the universe.Everything changes its form. Human beings are alsonot totally destroyed after their death. They onlychange their form. Just like them, their thoughts alsochange form. What remains of a person unchanged ishis soul, which represents his moral and spiritualqualities.

Scientists and philosophers have to prove theirtheories by reason and logic so that they may beaccepted by other scientists and philosophers. Theyare not concerned with common people, who cannotand will not understand them. Religion is different fromscience and philosophy.

Canons and doctrines of our religion as well as ofall other religions, which came before Islam, werecommunicated in simple terms so that they could beunderstood easily by everyone, but it was notexplained why they were sent. Allah had chosen ourProphet to spread Islam among all the people of theworld. It was not sent for only the intellectuals, who


would not have accepted anything, which was notproved by logic and reason.

Our Prophet expressed the canons and doctrinesof our religion in very simple terms so that they couldbe understood by all, but he did not give the reasonsas to why they were being imposed, which thecommon people could not understand and cannotunderstand even today. The doctrines of Islam are,primarily, for the belief of the people and not for theirbrains. Those, who have a brain, can find out forthemselves why they are formulated. Development ofthe brain depends upon acquisition of knowledge.Therefore, those who wish to know and understand thereasons would acquire knowledge and develop theirbrain. But those who cannot should believe in themand follow them faithfully. It is sufficient for theirsalvation.”

Jabir asked, “Will the time come when knowledgewill become universal?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Yes, the time willcome when human beings will know the importance ofeducation and realize that it is the duty of everyindividual to acquire knowledge. At that time sufficientfacilities would be made available for that purpose.”

Jabir said, “Then everyone will become ascholar.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Even at that timeand in spite of the facilities, all people will not becomeeducated, since everyone does not have the sameaptitude for learning. However, they would not be likethe illiterate people of today. Every person will havesome knowledge and power of understanding. The

learned people would, therefore, be able to explain tothose, who wished to know, the truth and rationale ofthe principles of Islam.”

Jabir asked, “What is the most powerful forceand strongest desire in the life of a man?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “The strongestdesire in a man’s life is to live and to protect his life.”

Jabir asked, “Why is there so much differencebetween human beings and inorganic substance andwhy are they (human beings) more like animals andplants than inanimate objects?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “There is adifference between inorganic substances and humanbeings because they (inorganic substance) followsome fixed and unchanging laws, while humans donot. That is why, they are always and everywhere,more or less, alike, but human beings differ from oneanother. Every person differs from the other inintelligence, aptitude, aspirations, taste, skills, and soon. Another important cause of difference between thetwo is that inorganic substances have no desires ashumans have.

Since inorganic substances follow some fixedlaws, there are few difference in the properties of asubstance from one place to another and it is possibleto predict what changes it would undergo in future. Butin the case of human beings such predictions areimpossible. There are so many factors which affect thelife of a person and influence his decisions that hehimself does not know what will happen to him in futureand what he would have to do next.


Plants and animals are like human beings,because they are also governed by changing laws.They follow some fixed laws also, but so do thehumans. Although human beings have some commondesires, such as the desire to eat, drink, sleep andhave a mate, yet there are so many differences amongthem that they have split into many groups anddenominations and fight each other.”

STARS OF THE SKYJabir asked, “What are the shining stars, which

are at a fixed distance from us and are always inmotion?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Each star is asmall universe within the great universe. It is acollection of heavenly bodies, i.e., a sun and itssatellites.

They are in perpetual motion so that they maynot fall down and break up. If their movement stops,the universe will come to an end. It is perpetual motion,which creates life. In other words perpetual motionitself is life. If the motion stops, life would cease toexist.”

Jabir asked, “What is the shape and form of starsin space?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Some stars aresolid, some liquid and some in gaseous state.”

Jabir said in wonderment, “How can we believethat stars may be in a gaseous state. Is it possible forgases to shine as the stars do at night?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Not all the stars, butonly those which are very hot, are in the form of gas.Excessive heat turns them into gas and makes themshine, just as very high temperature of our sun makesit shine. It is also in a gaseous state.”

“Jabir asked, “How does the movement of starskeep them from falling?”


“Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Put a stone in a slingand swing it round your head. The stone will stay in thesling so long as you are rotating it. But as soon as youstop the rotation, the stone will fall down on the ground.In the same way the perpetual motion of stars keepsthem from falling down.”

“Jabir asked, “Are there human beings in thestars? You have said just now that each star is acollection of heavenly bodies.”

“Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “I cannot say thatthere are human beings in other worlds, but I can saythat there are living beings, whom we cannot see,because of great distance between us.”

“Jabir said, “What is the proof that there are livingbeings in other worlds?”

“Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “It is my belief thatAllah, Who has created the universe, knowseverything. In His book, the Holy Qur’an, He hasmentioned the name of Jinns. They are living beings,which cannot be seen. Perhaps the Jinns, who are inother worlds, may be like us.”

OLD AGEJabir asked, “Why do we get old?”Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Diseases are of

two kinds-Acute and Chronic. Acute diseases come allof a sudden. They are either cured soon or they kill thepatients. Chronic diseases are also of two kinds. Someof them have a prolonged life and some are incurable.Old age is a chronic disease, which is incurable.”

Jabir said, “It is the first time that I hear from youthat old age is kind of chronic disease.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “All of us suffer fromthis disease. Some at an early age and some at anadvanced age. Those, who obey the commands ofAllah and abstain from the things proscribed underIslamic Code, take a long time to age, but others getold soon.”

Jabir asked, “Why do we become dull-mindedand childish in our old age?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “It is not a generalrule. Everyone does not become dull minded in his oldage. Some people are dull minded and stupid whenthey are young, but because of their blooming age noone takes much notice of their stupidity. But as theygrow older it becomes apparent and noticeable. On theother hand those people who are intelligent and wisewhen they are young, remain so in their old age.However, they do not retain physical strength of theiryouth. The store of knowledge of the learned people


may not be very big, when they are old. Moreover, inold age, their wits becomes sharper, their viewsbalanced and their judgement impartial. They alwaysside and support the just cause.”

Jabir said, “It is said that we become forgetful inour old age. Is it a general rule?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “No, it is not the oldage, which makes one forgetful. It is the decrease inthe power of memory. The power of memory is just likeany other power of the human body. Every power,which is not used, becomes weak. A young man, whodoes not use his memory, becomes forgetful.

Old people, who confine themselves within thefour walls of their houses, do not pay any attention totheir environment, do not take any notice of the eventsand happenings of the world and add nothing to theirreservoir of memory, become forgetful. They also startlosing gradually what they had stored in their memorytill they forget everything. But a person, who does notlet the weakness of old age deteriorate his power ofmemory, finds it stronger than what it was when hewas young. Since he has been using his memorythroughout his whole life, he finds it at its zenith in hisold age.”

THEORY OF GERMSJabir asked, “What are your views about

sickness? Does it come by the order of Allah or is itaccidental?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Diseases are ofthree kinds. Some are from Allah, some are of our owncreation and some are caused by tiny living beings.

Old age is a good example of the sickness whichis from Allah. There is no escape from it. Sooner orlater everyone must suffer from this disease and die.

We suffer from some diseases due to ourignorance and following our false desires. We havebeen warned in the Holy Qur’an not to indulge inexcessive eating and drinking. If we eat a few morselsless and drink a few draughts less we shall be safefrom many diseases.

Many diseases are caused by the enemies of thehuman body. These enemies are very small. They areso small that we cannot see them with our eyes. Toprotect us and to fight against these enemies, Allahhas provided us with a large number of guards. Ourguards are inside our bodies. They are so small thatthey cannot be seen with the naked eye. When theenemies enter the human body and attack it, theguards put up a fight against them and try to annihilatethem. When they are successful in their fight werecover from sickness.”


Jabir asked, “Who are our enemies that attack usand make us sick?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “They are of manykinds, but their constituents are limited?”

Jabir said, “I cannot understand what you mean.How can they be of different kinds, but made of limitednumber of things?”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) explained, “The book youread has thousands of words and each word has adifferent meaning, but all of them are composed of alimited number of letters. Similarly our enemies are ofthousands of kinds, but are made of limited number ofsubstances. This point can be explained by anotherexample. There are thousands of animals and all ofthem are made of flesh, blood and bones, but they arenot alike. A cat is not like a camel. One is carnivorousand the other herbivorous.”

JA’FAR AS-SADIQ AND MUFAZZAL BINOMAR

One of the students of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), wasMufazzal bin Omar, who has left behind valuablerecords of lectures of that great scholar. One day heasked the Imam (a.s.) in the classroom whether therewere in reality auspicious and inauspicious hours, asstated by astrologers and fortunetellers.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “Whatever isrelated to superstition, sorcery, magic, voodoo, etc., iscondemned by Allah and prohibited by Islam.”

Mufazzal said, “Auspicious and inauspicioustimes are revealed by astrologers and they are notmagicians.”

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) replied, “When anastrologer claims to reveal auspicious and inauspicioushours he become a magician.”

Mufazzal said, “Do you mean that all the peoplewho believe in auspicious and inauspicious hours arewrong?”

“Yes, they are”, replied Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.),“But we have favourable and unfavourable days.”

Mufazzal remarked, “It means the same thing aswhat the astrologers say.”

Said Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Favourable andunfavourable times are different from what theastrologers say. They depend upon the person himself.


We have once every few days or every 24 hoursfavourable times according to our physical conditionand temperament. Because many of our inner organsperform some operations in the daytime and some atnight. The composition and density of our bloodchanges during different hours of the day and night.When we get up to offer our morning prayers, ourblood is one fifth or one fourth less dense than what itis when we go to bed at night after our daily chores.When the density of blood is low we feel lively andactive and when it is high we are dull and drowsy. Wecan call them favourable and unfavourable times of ourlives.

This fact was known to ancient philosophersalso. Hippocrates, the Greek physician, has said thatour liver performs many functions, but not at one andthe same time. Every work has its own time. That iswhy our mood and temperament are more congenialand suitable for certain types of work at certain times ofday and night.

Medicine for asthma is more effective, if it istaken at midnight rather than at any other time. It maynot cure the disease, but it will give relief to the patientand help him sleep well. Therefore, to asthma patientmidnight is an auspicious time for taking medicine.

Food, which makes you lazy and dull is balefuland sinister and the time when you are not inclined towork after heavy meals is an unpropitious time for you.On the other hand when you find yourself active, full ofenergy and fit for work, it is a propitious time for you.These are auspicious and inauspicious times of ourlives and not what the astrologers say.”

The Qur’an and Modern Science 129 130 The Qur’an and Modern Science

THE QUR’ANAND MODERN SCIENCE

By Dr. Maurice Bucaille(French Academy of Medicine)

On 9 November 1976, an unusual lecture wasgiven at the French Academy of Medicine. Its title was‘Physiological and Embryological data in the Qur’an.’ Ipresented my study on the existence in the Qur’an ofcertain statements concerning physiology andreproduction. My reason for doing this was that ourknowledge of these disciplines is such that it isimpossible to explain how a text produced at the timeof the Qur’an could have contained ideas that haveonly been discovered in modern times.

There is indeed no human work prior to moderntimes that contains statements which were equally inadvance of the state of knowledge at the time theyappeared and which might be compared to the Qur’an.

In addition to this, a comparative study of data of asimilar kind contained in the Bible (Old Testament andGospels) seemed desirable. This is how the projectwas formed of a confrontation between modernknowledge and certain passages in the Holy Scripturesof each monotheistic religion. It resulted in thepublication of a book under the title, The Bible, theQur’an and Science. The first French edition appeared

in May 1976. (Seglers, Paris). English and Arabiceditions have now been published.

It comes as no surprise to learn that Religion andScience have always been considered to be twinsisters by Islam and that today, at a time when sciencehas taken such great strides, they still continue to beassociated, and furthermore certain scientific data areused for the better understanding of the Qur’anic text.What is more, in a century where, for many, scientifictruth has dealt a deathblow to religious belief, it isprecisely the discoveries of science that, in anobjective examination of the Islamic Revelation, havehighlighted the supernatural character of certainaspects of the Revelation.

When all is said and done, generally speaking,scientific knowledge would seem, in spite of whatpeople may say, to be highly conducive to reflection onthe existence of God.

Once we begin to ask ourselves in an unbiased orunprejudiced way about the metaphysical lessons tobe derived from some of today’s knowledge, (forexample our knowledge of the infinitely small or theproblem of life), we indeed discover many reasons forthinking along these lines. When we think about theremarkable organisation presiding over the birth andmaintenance of life, it surely becomes clear that thelikelihood of it being the result of chance get less andless, as our knowledge and progress in this fieldexpand. Certain concepts must appear to beincreasingly unacceptable; for example, the one putforward by the French winner of the Noble prize forMedicine who tried to get people to admit that living


matter was self-created as the result of fortuitouscircumstances under the effect of certain outsideinfluences using simple chemical elements as theirbase. From this it is claimed that living organismscame into being, leading to the remarkable complexbeing called man. To me, it would seem that thescientific progress made in understanding the fantasticcomplexity of higher beings provides strong argumentsin favour of the opposite theory: in other words, theexistence of an extraordinarily methodical organisationpresiding over the remarkable arrangement of thephenomena of life.

In many parts of the Book, the Qur’an leads, insimple terms, to this kind of general reflection. But italso contains infinitely more precise data, which aredirectly related to facts discovered by modern science:these are what exercise a magnetic attraction fortoday’s scientists.

ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TOUNDERSTAND THE QUR’AN

For many centuries, man was unable to studythem, because he did not possess sufficient scientificmeans. It is only today that numerous verses of theQur’an dealing with natural phenomena have becomefully comprehensible. I should even go so far as to saythat, in the 20th century, with its compartmentalizationof ever-increasing knowledge, it is not always easy for

the average scientist to understand everything hereads in the Qur’an on such subjects, without havingrecourse to specialized research. This means that tounderstand all such verses of the Qur’an one is todayrequired to have an absolutely encyclopedicknowledge, by which I mean, one which embraces verymany disciplines.

I use the word ‘science’ to mean knowledge whichhas been soundly established. It does not include thetheories which, for a time, help to explain aphenomenon or a series of phenomena, only to beabandoned later in favour of explanations which havebecome more plausible thanks to scientific progress. Ibasically only intend to deal with comparisons betweenstatements in the Qur’an and knowledge which is notlikely to be subject to further discussion. Wherever Iintroduce scientific facts which are not yet 100%established, I shall, of course, make this quite clear.

There are also some very rare examples ofstatements in the Qur’an which have not, as yet, beenconfirmed by modern science: I shall refer to these bypointing out that all the evidence leads scientists toregard them as being highly probable. An example ofthis is the statement in the Qur’an that life is of aquaticorigin; and another is that somewhere in the Universethere are Earths similar to our own.

These scientific considerations should not,however, make us forget that the Qur’an remains areligious book par excellence and that it cannot, ofcourse, be expected to have a ‘scientific’ purpose perse. Whenever man is invited to reflect upon the worksof Creation and the numerous natural phenomena he


can observe, the obvious intention, in using suchexamples, is to stress Divine Omnipotence. The factthat, in these reflections, we can find allusions to dataconnected with scientific knowledge is surely anotherof God’s gifts whose value must shine out in an agewhere scientifically based materialistic atheism seeksto gain control at the expense of the belief in God.

Throughout my research I have constantly tried toremain totally objective. I believe I have succeeded inapproaching the study of the Qur’an with the sameobjectivity that a doctor has when he opens a file on apatient: in other words, by carefully confronting all thesymptoms he can find to arrive at a diagnosis. I mustadmit that it was certainly not faith in Islam that firstguided my steps, but simple research for the truth. Thisis how I see it today. It was mainly this fact, which, bythe time I had finished my study, had led me to see inthe Qur’an a text revealed to a Prophet.

We shall examine statements in the Qur’an whichappear today merely to record scientific truth, butwhich men in former times were only able to grasp theapparent meaning of. How is it possible to imaginethat, were there any subsequent alterations to thetexts, these obscure passages scattered throughoutthe text of the Qur’an were able to escape humanmanipulation? The slightest alteration to the textswould automatically have destroyed the remarkablecoherence that is characteristic of them, and preventedus from establishing their conformity with modernknowledge. The presence of these statements spreadthroughout the Qur’an looks to the impartial observerlike an obvious hallmark of authenticity.

The Qur’an is a preaching which was made knownto man in the course of a Revelation that lasted roughlytwenty years. It spanned two periods of equal lengthson either side of the Hegira. In view of this, it wasnatural for reflections having a scientific aspect to bescattered throughout the Book. In the case of a studysuch as the one we have made, we had to regroupthem according to subject, collecting them sura bysura.

How should they be classified? I could not find anyindications in the Qur’an suggesting any particularclassification. So I have decided to present themaccording to my own personal one.

It would seem to me, that the first subject to bedealt with is the Creation. Here it is possible tocompare the verses referring to this topic with thegeneral ideas prevalent today on the formation of theUniverse. Next, I have divided up verses under thefollowing general headings: Astronomy, the Earth, theAnimal and Vegetable Kingdoms, Man, and HumanReproduction in particular; the latter is a subject which,in the Qur’an, is allotted a very important place. Tothese general headings it is possible to add sub-headings.

Furthermore, I thought it useful to make acomparison between Qur’anic and Biblical narrationsfrom the point of view of modern knowledge. This hasbeen done in the case of such subjects as theCreation, the Flood and the Exodus.


CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

Let us first examine the Creation as described inthe Qur’an.

An extremely important general idea emerges: itsdissimilarity with Biblical narration. This ideacontradicts the parallels which are often, and wrongly,drawn by Western authors to underline solely theresemblances between the two texts.

When talking of Creation, as of other subjects,there is a strong tendency in the West to claim thatMuhammad only copied the general outlines of theBible. It is indeed possible to compare the six days ofthe Creation as described in the Bible, plus an extraday of rest on God’s Sabbath, with this verse from suraAl A’raf (7: 54).

إن ربكم اهللا الذي خلق السماوات واألرض في ستة أیام

Your Lord is Allah Who created the Heavensand the Earth in six days.

We must point out straight away that moderncommentators stress the interpretation of ayyam, onetranslation of which is ‘days’, as meaning ‘long periods’or ‘ages’ rather than periods of twenty-four hours.

What to me appears to be of fundamentalimportance is that, in contrast to the narrationcontained in the Bible, the Qur’an does not lay down asequence for the Creation of the Earth and Heavens. Itrefers both to the Heavens before the Earth and the

Earth before the Heavens, when it talks of the Creationin general, as in this verse of the sura Taha (20: 4).

تنزیال ممن خلق األرض والسماوات العلى

A revelation from Him Who created the Earthand the Heavens.

In fact, the notion to be derived from the Qur’an isone of a con-comitance in the celestial and terrestrialevolutions. There are also absolutely fundamental dataconcerning the existence of an initial gaseous mass(dukhan) which is unique and whose elements,although at first fused together (ratq) subsequentlybecame separated (fatq). This notion is expressed inthe sura Fussilat (41: 11).

ثم استوى إلى السماء وھي دخان

And God turned to Heaven when it was smoke.

And the same is expressed in the sura Al Anbiya’(21: 30).

أولم یر الذین كفروا أن السماوات والأرض كانتا رتقا ففتقناھما

Do not the Unbelievers see that the Heavensand the Earth were joined together, then We clovethem asunder?


The separation process resulted in the formationof multiple worlds, a notion which crops up dozens oftimes in the Qur’an, once it has formed the first versein the sura Al-Fatiha (1:1).

الحمد للھ رب العالمین

Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds.

All this is in perfect agreement with modern ideason the existence of primary nebula and the process ofsecondary separation of the elements that had formedthe initial unique mass. This separation resulted in theformation of galaxies and then, when these divided, ofstars from which the planets were to be born.

Reference is also made in the Qur’an to anintermediary Creation between the Heavens and theEarth, as in the sura Al Furqan (25: 59).

الذي خلق السماوات والأرض وما بینھما

God is the One Who created the Heavens andthe Earth and all that is between them.

It would seem that this intermediary Creationcorresponds to the modern discovery of bridges ofmatter which are present outside organisedastronomical systems.

This survey certainly shows us how modern dataand statements in the Qur’an agree on a large numberof points. We have come a long way from the Biblicaltext with its successive phases that are totallyunacceptable; especially the one placing the Creation

of the Earth (on the 3rd day) before that of the Heavens(on the 4 th day), when it is a known fact that our planetcomes from its own star, the Sun. In suchcircumstances, how can we imagine that a man whodrew his inspiration from the Bible could have been theauthor of the Qur’an, and, of his own accord, havecorrected the Biblical text to arrive at a general conceptconcerning the formation of the Universe, when thisconcept was not to be formed until centuries after hisdeath?


ASTRONOMY – LIGHT AND MOVEMENT

Let us now turn to the subject of Astronomy.

Whenever I describe the details the Qur’ancontains on certain points of astronomy to Westerners,it is unusual for someone not to reply that there isnothing special in this, considering the Arabs madeimportant discoveries in this field long before theEuropeans.

This is, in fact, a singularly mistaken idea resultingfrom ignorance of history. In the first place, sciencedeveloped in Arabian countries at a time that wasconsiderably after the Qur’anic Revelation hadoccurred; in the second, the scientific knowledgeprevalent at the highpoint of Islamic civilization wouldnot have made it possible for a human being to havewritten statements on the Heavens comparable tothose in the Qur’an.

Here again, the subject is so wide that I can onlyprovide an outline of it.

Whereas the Bible talks of the Sun and the Moonas two luminaries differing in size, the Qur’andistinguishes between them by the use of differentepithets: light (nur) for the Moon, torch (siraj) for theSun. The first is an inert body which reflects light, thesecond a celestial formation in a state of permanentcombustion, and a source of light and heat.

The word ‘star’ (najm) is accompanied by anotherqualifying word which indicates that it burns and

consumes itself as it pierces through the shadows ofthe night: it is the word thakib.

In the Qur’an, the Kawkab definitely seems tomean the planets which are celestial formations thatreflect and do not produce light like the Sun.

Today it is known how the celestial organisation isbalanced by the position of stars in a defined orbit andthe interplay of gravitational forces related to theirmass and speed of movement, each with its ownmotion. But isn't this what the Qur’an describes, interms which have only become comprehensible in ourown day, when it mentions the foundation of thisbalance in the sura Al Anbiya’ (21: 33)?

ل في فلك یسبحونوھو الذي خلق اللیل والنھار والشمس والقمر ك

[God is] the One who created the night, theday, the Sun and the Moon. Each one is travellingin an orbit with its own motion.

The Arabic word which expresses this movementis a verb sabaha (yasbahun in the text); it carries with itthe idea of a motion which comes from any movingbody, be it the movement of one’s legs as one runs onthe ground, or the action of swimming in water. In thecase of a celestial body, one is forced to translate it inthe original sense, that is, ‘to travel with one’s ownmotion’.

The description of the sequence of day and nightwould, in itself, be rather commonplace were it not forthe fact that, in the Qur’an, it is expressed in terms thattoday are highly significant. This is because it uses the


verb Kawwara in the sura Al Zumar (39: 5) to describethe way the night ‘winds’ or ‘coils’ itself about the dayand the day about the night, just as, in the originalmeaning of the verb, a turban is wound around thehead. This is a totally valid comparison; yet at thesame time when the Qur’an was revealed, theastronomical data necessary to draw it were unknown.

The evolution of the Heavens and the notion of asettled place for the Sun are also described. They arein agreement with highly detailed modern ideas. TheQur’an also seems to have alluded to the expansion ofthe Universe.

There is also the conquest of space. This hasbeen undertaken thanks to remarkable technologicalprogress and has resulted in man’s journey to theMoon. But this surely springs to mind when we readthe sura Al Rahman (55: 33).

یا معشر الجن والإنس إن استطعتم أن تنفذوا من أقطار السماوات والأرض تنفذون إلا بسلطانفانفذوا ال

O assembly of jinns and men, if you canpenetrate regions of the Heavens and the Earth,then penetrate them! You will not penetrate themsave with (Our) Power.

This power comes from the Almighty, and thesubject of the whole sura is an invitation to recogniseGod’s Beneficence to man.

THE EARTH

Let us now return to Earth.

Let us examine, for example, this verse in the suraAl Zumar (39: 21).

لم تر أن اللھ أنزل من السماء ماء فسلكھ ینابیع في الأرض ثم یخرج بھ زرعا أألوانھا مختلف

Hast Thou not seen that God sent water downfrom the sky and led it through sources into theground? Then He caused sown fields of differentcolours to grow.

Such notions seem quite natural to us today, butwe should not forget that they were not prevalent longago. It was not until the sixteenth century, with BernardPalissy, that we gained the first coherent description ofthe water cycle. Prior to this, people talked about thetheory whereby the waters of the oceans, under theeffect of winds, were thrust towards the interior of thecontinents. They then returned to the oceans via thegreat abyss, which, since Plato’s time, has been calledthe Tartarus. In the seventeenth century, a greatthinker such as Descartes believed in it, and even inthe nineteenth century there was still talk of Aristotle’stheory, according to which water was condensed incool mountains caverns and formed underground lakesthat fed springs. Today, we know that it is the


infiltration of rainwater that is responsible for this. If onecompares the facts of modern hydrology with the datato be found in numerous verses of the Qur’an on thissubject, one cannot fail to notice the remarkabledegree of agreement between the two.

In geology, a fact of recently acquired knowledgeis the phenomenon of folding, which was to form themountain ranges. The same is true of the Earth’s crust,which is like a solid shell on which we can live, whilethe deeper layers are hot and fluid, and thusinhospitable to any form of life. It is also known that thestability of the mountains is linked to the phenomenonof folding, for it were the folds that were to providefoundation for the reliefs that constituted themountains.

Let us now compare modern ideas with one verseamong many in the Qur’an that deals with this subject.It is taken from the sura al Naba’ (78: 6-7)

ل أوتاداوالجبا.ألم نجعل الأرض مھادا

Have we not made the Earth an expanse andthe mountains stakes?

The stakes (awtad), which are driven into theground like those used to anchor a tent, are the deepfoundations of geological folds.

Here, as in the case of other topics, the objectiveobserver cannot fail to notice the absence of anycontradiction with modern knowledge.

But more than anything else, I was struck, at first,by statements in the Qur’an dealing with living things,

both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, especiallywith regard to reproduction.

I must once again stress the fact that it is onlysince modern times, that scientific progress has madethe content of many such verses more comprehensibleto us. There are also other verses which are moreeasily understandable, but which conceal a biologicalmeaning that is highly significant. This is the case ofthe sura Al Anbiya’, a part of which has already beenquoted:

وجعلنا من الماء كل شيء حي أفلا یؤمنون

And We got every living thing out of the water.Will they then not believe: (21: 30)

This is an affirmation of the modern idea that theorigin of life is aquatic.

Progress in botany at the time of Muhammad wasin no country advanced enough for it to be establishedas a rule that plants have both male and female parts.Nevertheless, we may read the following in the suraTaha (20: 53).

وأنزل من السماء ماء فأخرجنا بھ أزواجا من نبات شتى

(God is the One Who) sent water down fromthe sky and thereby We brought forth pairs ofplants each separate from the other.

Today, we know that fruit comes from plants thathave sexual characteristics (even when it comes from


unfertilized flowers, like bananas). In the sura Al Ra’d(13: 3) we read:

ومن كل الثمرات جعل فیھا زوجین اثنین

And fruit of every kind He made in pairs, twoand two.

Reflections on reproduction in the animal kingdomwere linked to those on human reproduction. We shallexamine them presently.

In the field of physiology, there is one verse which,to me, appears extremely significant: one thousandyears before the discovery of the circulation of blood,and roughly thirteen centuries before it was knownwhat happened in the intestine to ensure that organswere nourished by the process of digestive absorption,a verse in the Qur’an describes the source of theconstituents of milk, in conformity with these notions.

To understand this verse, we have to know thatchemical reactions occur in the intestine and that, fromthere, substances extracted from food pass into thebloodstream via a complex system, sometimes by wayof the liver, depending on their chemical nature. Theblood transports them to all the organs of the body,among which are the milk-producing mammary glands.

Without entering into detail, let us just say that,basically, there is the arrival of certain substances fromthe contents of the intestines into the vessels of theintestinal wall itself, and the transportation of thesesubstances by the bloodstream.

This concept must be fully appreciated, if we are tounderstand this verse in the Qur’an, Al Nahl (16: 66).

كم في األنعام لعبرة نسقیكم مما في بطونھ من بین فرث ودم لبنا خالصا وإن لللشاربینسآئغا

Verily, in cattle there is a lesson for you. Wegive you to drink of what is inside their bodies,coming from a conjunction between the contentsof the intestines and the blood, a milk, pure andpleasant for those who drink it.

THE CREATION OF MAN

In the Qur’an the subject of human reproductionleads to a multitude of statements which constitute achallenge to the embryologist seeking a humanexplanation to them. It was only after the birth of thebasic sciences which were to contribute to ourknowledge of biology, and especially after the inventionof the microscope, that man was able to understandsuch statements. It was impossible for a man living inthe early seventh century to have expressed suchideas. There is nothing to indicate that, at this time,men in the Middle East and Arabia knew anythingmore about this subject than men living in Europe oranywhere else. Today, there are many Muslims with athorough knowledge of the Qur’an and naturalsciences who have clearly recognised the comparisonsto be made between the verses of the Qur’an dealingwith reproduction and human knowledge. I shall always


remember the comment of an eighteen-year-oldMuslim, brought up in Saudi Arabia, replying to areference to the question of reproduction as describedin the Qur’an. Pointing to it, the said, ‘But this bookprovides us with all the essential information on thesubject. When I was at school they used the Qur’an toexplain to me how children were born; your books onsex-education are a bit late on the scene!’

It is on this point in particular, that a comparisonbetween the beliefs current at the time of the Qur’an,that were full of superstitions and myths, and thecontents of the Qur’an and modern data, leaves usamazed at the degree of concordance between thelatter and the absence of any reference in the Qur’anto the mistaken ideas that were prevalent at the time.

Let us now isolate, from all these verses, preciseideas concerning the complexity of the fertilizing liquidand the fact that an infinitely small quantity is requiredto ensure fertilization, its ‘quintessence’ – if I may sotranslate the Arabic word ‘sulala’.

The implantation of the egg in the female genitalorgan is perfectly described in several verses by theword ‘Alaq which is also the title of the sura in which itappears:

خلق الإنسان من علق

God fashioned man from something whichclings (96: 2)

I do not think there is any reasonable translation ofthe word ‘Alaq other than to use its original sense.

The evolution of the embryo inside the uterus isonly briefly described, but the description is accurate,because the simple words referring to it correspondexactly to fundamental stages in its growth. This iswhat we read in a verse from the sura Al Mu’minun(23: 14).

ثم خلقنا النطفة علقة فخلقنا العلقة مضغة فخلقنا المضغة عظاما فكسونا العظامأنشأناه خلقا آخر فتبارك اللھ أحسن الخالقینلحما ثم

We fashioned the thing which clings into achewed lump of flesh and We fashioned thechewed flesh into bones and We clothed the boneswith intact flesh. Then We developed out of itanother creature. So blessed be Allah, the PerfectCreator.

The term ‘chewed flesh’ (mudga) correspondsexactly to the appearance of the embryo at a certainstage in its development.

It is known that the bones develop inside this massand that they are then covered with muscle. This is themeaning of the term ‘intact flesh’ (lahm).

The embryo passes through a stage where someparts are in proportion and others out of proportion withwhat is later to become the individual. Maybe this is themeaning of a verse in the sura Al Hajj (22: 5) whichreads as follows:

علقة ثم من مضغة مخلقة وغیر فإنا خلقناكم من تراب ثم من نطفة ثم منمخلقة


We created you out of dust, then out of sperm,then We fashioned him into something whichclings into a little lump of flesh, partly formed andpartly unformed.

Next, we have a reference to the appearance ofthe senses and viscera in the Sura Al Sajda (32: 9).

وجعل لكم السمع والأبصار والأفئدة

(God) appointed for you the senses of hearing,sight and the viscera.

Nothing here contradicts today’s data andfurthermore, none of the mistaken ideas of the timehave crept into the Qur’an.

QU’RAN AND BIBLE

We have now come to the last subject: it is theconfrontation, with modern knowledge, of passages inthe Qur’an that are also referred to in the Bible.

We have already caught a glimpse of the problemwhen talking of Creation. Earlier I stressed the perfectagreement between modern knowledge and verses inthe Qur’an, and pointed out that the Biblical narrationcontained statements that were scientificallyunacceptable. This is hardly surprising when we knowthat the great narration of Creation contained in theBible was the work of priests living in the sixth centuryBC, hence the term ‘Sacerdotal’ narration. This seemsmainly to have been conceived as the theme of apreaching designed to exhort people to observe theSabbath. The narration was constructed with a definiteend in view, and as Father de Vaux (a former head ofthe Biblical School of Jerusalem) has noted, this endwas essentially legalist in character.

The Bible also contains a much shorter and oldernarration of the Creation, the so-called ‘Yahvist’version, which approaches the subject from acompletely different angle.

They are both taken from Genesis, the first book ofthe Pentateuch or Taurah: Moses is supposed to havebeen its author, but the text we have today has, as weknow, undergone many changes.

The Sacerdotal narration of Genesis is famous forits whimsical genealogies, that go back to Adam, and


which nobody takes very seriously. Nevertheless, suchGospel authors as Matthew and Luke have reproducedthem, more or less verbatim, in their genealogies ofJesus. Matthew goes back as far as Abraham, andLuke to Adam. All these writings are scientificallyunacceptable, because they set a figure on the age ofthe world and the time man appeared on Earth, whichis most definitely out of keeping with what has todaybeen established with certainty. The Qur’an, on theother hand, is completely free of data of this kind.

Earlier on, we also noted how perfectly the Qur’anagrees with general, modern ideas on the formation ofthe Universe, whereas the Biblical narration stands incontradiction to them; the allegory of the primordialwaters is hardly tenable, nor is the creation of light onthe first day, before the creation of the stars whichproduce this light; the existence of an evening and amorning before the creation of the Earth; the creationof the Earth on the third day before that of the Sun onthe fourth; the appearance of beasts of the Earth onthe sixth day after the appearance of the birds of theair on the fifth day, although the former came first: allthese statements are the result of beliefs prevalent atthe time this text was written and do not have any othermeaning.

As for the genealogies contained in the Bible,which form the basis of the Jewish calendar and assertthat today the world is 5738 years old, these are hardlyadmissible either. Our solar system may be over 4½billion years old, and the appearance on Earth of man,as we know him today, may be estimated in tens ofthousands of years, if not more.

It is absolutely essential, therefore, to note that theQur’an does not contain any such indications as todate, and that these are specific to the Biblical text.

There is a second, highly significant, subject ofcomparison between the Bible and the Qur’an: that isthe Flood. In fact, the Biblical narration is a fusion oftwo descriptions in which events are related differently.The Bible speaks of a universal flood and places itroughly 300 years before Abraham. According to whatwe know of Abraham, this would imply a universalcataclysm around the twenty-first or twenty-secondcentury B.C. This would be untenable, in view ofhistorical data.

How can we accept the idea that, in the twenty-first or twenty-second century BC, all civilization waswiped off the face of the Earth by a universalcataclysm, when we know that this period corresponds,for example, to the one preceding the Middle Kingdomin Egypt, at roughly the date of the first intermediaryperiod before the eleventh dynasty?

None of the preceding statements is acceptableaccording to modern knowledge.

From this point of view, we can measure theenormous gap separating the Bible from the Qur’an.

In contrast to the Bible, the narration contained inthe Qur’an deals with a cataclysm that is limited toNoah’s people. They were punished for their sins, aswere other ungodly peoples. The Qur’an does notlocate the cataclysm in time. There are absolutely nohistorical or archaeological objections to the narrationin the Qur’an.


A third point of comparison, which is extremelysignificant, is the story of Moses, and especially theExodus from Egypt of the Hebrews enslaved to thePharaoh. Here I can only give a highly compressedaccount of the study of this subject that appears in mybook. I have noted the points where the Biblical andQur’anic narrations agree and disagree, and for somedetails, I have found points where the two textscomplement each other in a very useful way. Amongthe many hypotheses concerning the position occupiedby the Exodus in the history of the Pharaohs, I haveconcluded that the most likely is the theory whichmakes Merneptah, Rameses II’s successor, thePharaoh of the Exodus. The confrontation of the datecontained in the Scriptures with archaeologicalevidence speaks strongly in favour of this hypothesis. Iam pleased to be able to say that the Biblical narrationcontributes weighty evidence leading us to situateMoses in the history of the Pharaohs: Moses was bornduring the reign of Rameses II. Biblical data aretherefore of considerable historical value in the story ofMoses.

The medical study of the mummy of Merneptahhas yielded further useful information on the possiblecauses of this Pharaoh’s death.

The fact that we today possess the mummy of thisPharaoh, which to be exact, was discovered in 1898, isone of paramount importance. The Bible records that itwas engulfed in the sea, but does not give any detailsas to what subsequently became of the body. TheQur’an, in the sura Yunus, notes that the body of the

Pharaoh, who was to be damned, would be saved fromthe waters. Sura Yunus (10: 92)

فالیوم ننجیك ببدنك لتكون لمنخلفك آیة وإن كثیرا من الناس عن آیاتنا لغافلون

So this day We shall save your (dead), bodythat you may be a sign for those who come afteryou! And verily, many among mankind areheedless of Our signs.

A medical examination of this mummy, hasmoreover, shown that the body could not have stayedin the water for long, because it does not show signs ofdeterioration due to prolonged submersion.

Here again, the confrontation of the narration inthe Qur’an with the date provided by modernknowledge does not give rise to the slightest objectionfrom a scientific point of view.

The Old Testament constitutes a collection ofliterary works produced in the course of roughly ninecenturies and which have undergone many alterations.The part played by man in the actual composition oftexts of the Bible is quite considerable.

The Qur’anic Revelation has a history that isradically different. From the moment it was firstcommunicated to man, it was learnt by heart andwritten down during Muhammad’s own lifetime. It isthanks to this that the Qur’an does not pose anyproblem of authenticity.

A totally objective examination of it, in the light ofmodern knowledge, leads us to recognise the


agreement between the two, as has already beennoted on repeated occasions. It makes us deem itquite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad’s time tohave been the author of such statements, on accountof the state of knowledge in his day. Suchconsiderations are part of what gives the Qur’anicRevelation its unique place, and forces the impartialscientist to admit his inability to provide an explanationwhich calls solely upon materialistic reasoning.

Documents

The Great Muslim Scientist Imam Jaffer Sadiq (as)